


Quicksand

by liziscribbles



Series: Midnight Eyes [1]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: Blind Yusuke Kitagawa, Blood Drinking, Blood Related Human Trafficking, Blood and Gore, Buried Alive, Fae & Fairies, M/M, Minor Character Death, Steampunk, Steampunk Infrastructure, Supernatural Elements, Temporary Character Death, Vampires, Were-Creatures, Witches, steampunk fashion, suicide ideation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-19
Updated: 2019-10-08
Packaged: 2020-05-14 18:28:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 26,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19278970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/liziscribbles/pseuds/liziscribbles
Summary: Someone bending light comes alongand flowers lean towards the sun...Ren Amamiya's existence is forever changed when he happens by a vampire planning to murder a woman.  Afterward, he's thrown into a mysterious world which had been hiding just beneath his nose: the Supernatural Underground.





	1. Bleed Black

**Author's Note:**

> So, this story idea has been marinating in my mind since about 2014, and back then it was for a whole different fandom! A lot of this vampire lore is my own creation, something I was going to use for an original novel I was planning several years ago! If there is enough interest in learning about my vampire lore, I can put together a lore guide! I hope you guys like it! I've been working on the universe for _ages_.
> 
> Note: Yusuke doesn't appear for several chapters! Gotta build up to it, after all!
> 
> [This](https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/incubus/quicksand.html) is the song the fic title comes from!
> 
> Thanks to my amazing, incomparable, wonderful friend and beta, [Nada](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueCrownFics/pseuds/BlueCrownFics). She listened to me whine through my monthlong writer's block and hiatus, and constantly reassured me that I'm not the absolute worst writer in the universe. XD

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _if you listen, listen close..._  
>  _you can hear when the heart stops._  
>  _i saved the pieces when it broke,_  
>  _and ground them all to dust._  
> [bleed black](https://open.spotify.com/track/2d7D8CladbfO6SOTcTLTXN?si=vRcRkuXkSxaSD5mpwX20oQ) ;; afi  
> [ [youtube link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYyNe5HfqVI) ] | { [lyrics](https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/afi/bleedblack.html) }

Tokyo's sky was scattered with stars as Ren rushed between the steel factory and the town office. The smell of engine oil pierced his nostrils, and he waved his hand in front of his face to chase the acrid odor away. Sojiro had told him dozens of times how the smell meant business, which meant customers for the coffee shop. No matter how many times Sojiro told him to be grateful for the stink, though, Ren couldn't find it in himself. To him, all it smelled like was pollution, which led to black lung, which was _not_ a good thing.

As tempting as it was to take his handkerchief from his pocket and protect his nose and lungs from the offensive air, Ren resisted the urge and opted instead to continue to wave the smell away with his hand. Maybe this was just another sign that he needed to take another path to get home. The side street was the fastest, though, and he was running late. Next week, he would have to ask Yoshida if he could duck out of the rally early, so he wouldn't _have_ to take the back alley to get home. He really couldn't wait for the crews to finish Tokyo's steam train. Taking the train would make it so much easier to get all the way across town.

Though, he supposed, it would be impossible to avoid the foul-smelling air that way.

Ren chuckled. The more he complained, the more he sounded like a grumpy old man who _opposed_ the growing Tokyo industry. He didn't. He was actually pleased with the way things were going. Every new factory meant more jobs for the homeless, and things like the train and the airship meant that he could see parts of the world that he'd never been able to see before. If Toranosuke Yoshida won his campaign for mayor, the expansion would only continue. He had plans for Tokyo, to continue expanding it until it was a proper business hub. Ren really couldn't wait to see it happen.

Even so, he couldn't help but wave the lingering smell of exhaust away. Maybe someday, someone would invent an engine that _didn't_ make a ten-yard area smell like burning fuel.

Emerging on the other side of the alley, Ren looked around the shopping district. Maybe he could soften the blow of being late for his coven meeting if he brought food home with him. Futaba would have been just as satisfied if he made curry, but he knew Shiho wouldn't be able to stay mad if he came home with crepes or some sort of cake. Haru was the easiest to assuage. All he would have to do was make her some coffee. Ironically, the hardest one to calm was Ren's own familiar. Morgana liked to think of himself as the coven's leader, even though Ren had been the one unanimously voted into that position by all of his friends. If Ren showed up to the meeting late, there was a non-zero chance that Morgana would spend the whole meeting complaining.

Unless, of course, Ren managed to come home with fish.

His eyes fell upon the fish market, and he chuckled softly. Morgana's preference was salmon, which was the most _expensive_ fish Ren could usually find, but if it would keep his familiar off his case for another week, it was worth the expense. A quick stop at the bakery for some pastries, and then at the fish market for a cut of salmon to placate Morgana, and then Ren could go home. If it made him later, well... his friends had the keys to his apartment so they could start the meeting without him just fine.

Ren hurried across the street to the bakery, and as he approached the door, the aroma of baking bread caught his attention and made his stomach grumble loudly. Okay, maybe the pastries _weren't_ just for his friends. He smirked as he reached for the doorknob, but before he could twist it, something caught his attention from around a nearby corner.

"No!"

It was a woman's voice. The sound was faint, but it cut through the silence and entered Ren's ears like a knife cutting through butter. Ren turned toward the sound, his mission temporarily forgotten as he stepped away from the door. It was strange, how no one else walking the street seemed bothered by the sudden pleas for help echoing out from the alley, but Ren supposed the human condition made them far more interested in their own lives. It was disappointing, but not altogether surprising. So many things stayed just beyond the scope of people's lives for that very reason. There was a whole subculture of non-human creatures walking through Tokyo. Supernatural beings who wore the skin of humans lived just like normal people.

Even witches like Ren, normal humans who'd been born with the gift of magic, managed to fly under the radar thanks to that stereotypical human complacency. Ren wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth. Witches were stigmatized, just because of the temptation to turn to dark magic and do terrible things with it. The number of witches who actually _used_ dark magic was so small that it shouldn't have been an issue, but prejudices still existed.

Shaking himself from his thoughts, Ren followed the woman's voice to a nearby alleyway. The closer he got, the clearer he could hear the woman's pleas. She begged with someone to let her go, and as Ren turned into the shadowy alley he could see her silhouette thrashing against a large man's grasp. Her struggles were in vain, however. The man was significantly larger than she was, and he seemed to be putting forth absolutely no effort to hold her in place. Ren was surprised, actually. Even the largest, strongest man would struggle against that much resistance, but this man had no trouble whatsoever.

"Please! Please don't kill me! You can drink _some_ , but p-please!" the woman begged.

Drink some. Immediately, Ren's hackles rose more. It didn't take a genius to figure out that she was talking to a vampire. It would _also_ explain the lack of struggling on the man's part. Ren had never _met_ a vampire before—at least not one he _knew_ was a vampire—but in all the books he'd read, he'd learned that they had superhuman strength.

With that in mind, upon learning that the assailant was a vampire, most people would have given up and tried to get help from the authorities. Most people, however, didn't have magic on their side. If Ren left, there was a decent chance this man would kill the woman. Without further thought, Ren murmured a quiet spell under his breath. The spell was a simple one, taught to young witches to protect themselves from hunters or angry beasts while they were out gathering ingredients for potions.

Simple though it was, it was _definitely_ effective. The second Ren finished speaking, it was almost like a protective field shot out from inside the woman's body. The vampire was thrown backward into the bakery's outside wall, and the sound of the body against the bricks practically jumped Ren out of his skin. While the vampire was stunned, the woman dropped to her feet on the ground. She looked around frantically for a beat, then immediately dashed in the opposite direction without bothering to figure out who her rescuer was. Ren couldn't say he blamed her... however, that left him with a very large problem. Now, he was alone, in a dark alley, with a hungry, angry vampire who was probably not very pleased with him.

Before the vampire collected himself, Ren tried to make a quick escape from the alley. If he could get out into the public, it would be harder for the vampire to figure out who had cast the spell. However, before he could even manage one more step backward, the vampire was on his feet. The vampire stood in the shadows for a second longer, turning toward Ren. Ren took another step back. The vampire stepped forward. Taunting him. Toying with him. Ren knew vampires were fast, but instead of using his speed to his advantage, this vampire was choosing to turn it into a game.

"That was a mistake," a low, rumbling voice came from the shadows. Ren couldn't see the vampire's lips move, but he could only assume the voice belonged to him.

Ren wasn't fazed. He started murmuring under his breath again, preparing to cast the same protective spell on himself. However, before he could so much as utter a word, the vampire surged from the shadows and closed the distance between them. He extended a large hand, and gripped the lapels of Ren's vest, hauling him off the ground and shoving him into the wall. The vampire's hands were ice cold—so cold that Ren could feel them through his vest and his shirt—but even colder than his hands were his _eyes_. They were a chilly, soulless black, and they cut through Ren's composure like an icy knife, freezing him with fear.

The vampire's lips curled into a smirk. "There's an old adage about never separating an animal from his quarry..." he trailed off, his eyes taunting.

"You're saying you're an animal?" Ren asked before he could stop himself.

Black eyes danced in amusement, but the laugh that passed through the vampire's lips was more vicious than amused. He tightened his grip on Ren's shoulders, and Ren could feel the bone bruising, bending, cracking beneath his grip. Ren opened his mouth to shout, but the vampire's free hand reached up to cover his mouth. The chill seeped through his flesh and chilled him to his core all over again.

"Me? Not exactly. I am, however, rather hungry. Since you just scared my meal away, I think it's only appropriate that you take her place, don't you?"

Even if Ren could answer, he wouldn't have. In spite of the pain ripping through his shoulder, Ren tried to keep his thoughts together enough to repeat the protective spell. The vampire seemed to catch on, and before Ren could utter the last word, he tightened his grip on Ren's shoulder. Ren yelped and the spell cut off. The wave of magic still exploded out from within him, throwing the vampire into the opposite wall again, but without the last bit of the spell... he wouldn't stay stunned for long.

Pain tore through his shoulder, but Ren took off in a dash to the far side of the alley. Leading a hungry vampire into a shopping district full of unsuspecting people was a recipe for disaster. Ren knew that no one was there to come to his aid in the quiet warehouse district, but he _also_ knew it was for the best that way. No one on the streets meant no defenseless victims. It _also_ meant he had to think quickly and find a place to hide so he could heal his damned shoulder. It throbbed, and the throbbing was almost enough to make him trip over his feet. He managed to stay standing, and rushed toward a hole in a nearby fence.

Much to his surprise, when he spared a glance over his shoulder, the vampire wasn't there. Had he gone after the woman? Or even worse, the civilians in the street? Ren cursed under his breath, but continued to the hole in the fence. He wouldn't be able to help anyone until he could heal his shoulder.

There was still no sign of the vampire as Ren took shelter on a shadowed stoop. He had a bag of emergency healing herbs in his pocket, and while they weren't strong enough to _completely_ fix his shoulder, they would numb the pain until he got home, where he had potions that would expedite the healing. Once the pain was numbed, he had to figure out a way to protect everyone else on the streets from the hungry vampire, but he couldn't even _begin_ to focus right now. Ren reached into his pocket, taking out the bag of sweet-scented herbs and opening it.

Before he could so much as reach his hand into the bag, he felt his body being yanked out of the shadows. The bag of herbs spilled to the ground, and Ren was held several inches in the air, his legs dangling helplessly.

"Thought you could escape me, did you?"

Instinct alone caused Ren to cast a quick offensive spell. Ren's hand heated up so much that he felt it was going to burn away, and he shot his arm out sideways. When his hand came into contact with the vampire's arm, the concentrated sunlight spell burned hotter. The sun's fire made the vampire hiss in pain and drop Ren to the ground. Ren crumpled into a heap as the vampire stumbled backward and shook his arm back and forth in agony.

Any sense of victory he may have felt was short-lived. The vampire recovered quickly and he closed the distance between them in the blink of an eye. His smirk had changed somehow. It was more than malicious. It was almost _psychopathic_. He was hungry, and he hissed like a ferocious animal in Ren's face, his fangs dripping with an opalescent purple liquid. That was the moment that Ren realized exactly how much trouble he was in. No matter what he did, there was very little chance he would get out of this situation with his life. The vampire was hungry and furious, and each time Ren used magic to protect himself, the vampire only got angrier.

"Concentrated sunlight. Quite the clever little trick you tried to pull there. It would have, perhaps, been _more_ clever if it wasn't so futile."

With a rush of false bravado, Ren struggled. Just like the woman's desperate struggling back in the alleyway, though, it proved completely useless. "You... you're not gonna get away with this," he seethed, his voice gritty in its desperation.

The vampire simply laughed, then tightened his grasp on Ren's shoulder. He grinned in triumph at the pained yelp Ren gave off. "Oh, it's been _so_ long since I've tasted witch blood. I find your kind tastes so much better, the more _afraid_ you are before I drink."

Ren _desperately_ wanted to protest. He _wanted_ to tell this vampire that he wasn't afraid, and he wished he could keep his cool. He _was_ scared, though. Ren had lived for 120 years, and spent most of his magically-extended time flying under the radar. His coven was more about hunting monsters and healing the sick than stirring up trouble. 120 years, only to meet his end at the hands of a vampire who seemed to want to _toy_ with him. The vampire had denied being an animal earlier, and with his last bit of spite and defiance, Ren decided that he was absolutely right. Animals had decency inside them. Animals could be good.

This vampire was not an animal. Only one word came to Ren's mind when he thought of a creature who toyed with his prey. If Ren was going to die here, he had one last thing to say.

"Monster," Ren croaked, his voice more desperate than defiant. Pain combined with fear to take all the fight out of him. "Y-you're a _monster_!"

Much to his surprise, the vampire stopped. He didn't loosen his grip, but he stopped hissing in Ren's face, and his fangs momentarily disappeared behind his lips. The malicious grin on his face grew wider, and his black eyes narrowed. He tightened his grip on Ren's shoulder, relishing the pained hiss Ren gave in response.

Laughing cruelly, the vampire leaned close to Ren's face and repeated, "A monster, am I?"

Without another word, the vampire tossed Ren like an old rag doll. Ren sailed across the small industrial lot, his body smashing into the brick wall of a nearby building. Pain exploded out from Ren's spine and he crumpled to the ground in a heap. The coppery tinge of blood surrounded his tongue. His muscles and bones ached. His head throbbed. Awareness seeped in as he heard the crunch of footsteps on the asphalt. The vampire was getting closer. Every single inch of him was in excruciating pain, but he _couldn't_ give up. He couldn't just submit. He tried to move his arm to pick himself up, but before his muscles could respond, he felt the harsh grip of an ice-cold hand hauling him up from the ground.

"Why don't I show you what being a monster _truly_ feels like?"

The vampire's words rang in Ren's ears. His head throbbed in protest of the sound, but he couldn't find his voice to protest. The vampire slammed him against the wall again, pinning him there by his collarbone and flashing that same feral smile. With a deep and guttural laugh, the vampire leaned forward and sank his fangs into Ren's shoulder. He ripped a long gash in Ren's flesh, which finally allowed Ren to find his voice. A scream tore through the silence, but was drowned out by the clock tower ringing out the nine o'clock bells.

With each passing second, Ren could feel his life force draining away. Slowly, his screams faded into desperate whimpers, which faded into labored breaths. Energy ebbed away, and before long, all he could do was breathe in and out helplessly. He watched with fading consciousness as the vampire lifted his head. Blood—Ren's blood—dripped from the monster's lips and the feral expression changed back to a cocky smile. The blackness faded from his eyes, slowly turning to red, then to brown. The vampire dropped Ren unceremoniously to the asphalt, then used his foot to turn Ren onto his back.

"Now," he spoke to Ren, who could do nothing but blink and breathe as he clung to his last bit of life. "I could just let you expire there. Let your life fade. But that seems like a waste, doesn't it?"

The slick smirk returned as he pulled up the sleeve of his suit jacket, then used one of his blood-dripping fangs to tear his own skin open. As blackness started to overtake Ren's vision, the last thing he remembered seeing was the vampire's smug smile. The last thing he remembered at _all_ was a foreign, sickeningly sweet liquid dripping down his throat. Then, the world turned black.


	2. Wake The Dead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _across the sky, you can hear it on the other side:_  
>  _a scream that's loud enough to wake the dead._  
>  _and all alone you've got tickets for the nightmare,_  
>  _as you wake the dead._  
> [wake the dead](https://open.spotify.com/track/1aKPwgHTJhlyp6LatoL0lM?si=umSJng50QiOlf6NHzU4Tbw) ;; the used  
> [ [youtube link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fst0gt8ZRXA) ] | { [lyrics](https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/used/wakethedead.html) }

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Added chapter warning:** Character buried alive... sort of, anyway. Don't continue if you can't handle that!
> 
>  
> 
> ♥♥♥

Before Ren even opened his eyes, the first thing he felt was a dry agonizing hunger. It felt like it was clawing at him from the back of his throat, scratching all the way down his esophagus and into his stomach. It was far more intense than any hunger he'd felt before. It felt like it was _burning_ , and it managed to drown out the panic Ren felt when he opened his eyes.

He was surrounded by blackness. Ren's eyes had never been the best, but he'd always been able to see colors and shapes. He had never been in darkness like this before. He couldn't even tell where he was.

Where _was_ he? He was aware that he was lying down on a hard surface, but he couldn't identify anything more than that. It was quiet, too. Too quiet. Ren couldn't hear a single thing other than his own movements.

Aside from his lack of vision, everything felt... sharper. He could feel the stagnant air, the chilly temperature as it rested around him. He could smell wood and dirt, and he could hear the sound of his hair and his clothes brushing against whatever solid place he was lying on. Ren hands brushed up against the satin of his vest. Just like when he'd touched the wood, he could feel every single ridge and divot in the fabric.

A clear wooden smell tickled his nostrils. The smell wasn't unpleasant. It smelled piney, like he was next to a lumberyard or in the middle of a dense forest. Behind the scent of pine, there was a sharp undertone of dirt, almost like he was surrounded with it. 

He slid his arms along the surface he was lying on, and was surprised at how _clearly_ he could feel the ridges in the wood. It was cold, surprisingly cold for a surface with a human body lying on it. His hand slid along the pine for about four inches, only stopping when it came into contact with a corner and a wall. The shock at finding a barrier so close to him caused him to jerk his hand back to his side. A quick exploration on the other side found a barrier exactly the same distance away.

How had he ended up in such a cramped space? He stopped the questions before they could form. He needed to worry about the _where_ before the how. He moved his hand upward from the floor, and quickly realized that the room he was in was a foot tall from the floor to the ceiling. That wasn't a room. It was a box. A box, which smelled strongly of pine wood and dirt. Was he buried underground? Was he in a _grave_?

Ren’s eyes darted around in a desperate attempt to see his surroundings, to no avail. Panic fluttered about in his chest, and it was then, when something else dawned on him: he hadn't taken a single breath since he woke up. Even now that he was aware of it, he _still_ felt no compulsion to breathe. The lack of need for air only served to make him panic even more. He didn't need to breathe. _Why_ didn't he need to breathe? 

As he was wracking his brain for some sort of answer, the confrontation with the vampire entered his mind and panic swelled up even more. He remembered the vampire's words. _"I could just let you expire there. Let your life fade. But that seems like a waste, doesn't it?"_

No. No, he couldn't think about that yet. The more pressing issue was trying to figure out where he was and trying to find a way out. When he was out, when he could actually see something more than blackness and hear something more than his frenzied and panicked movements, _then_ he'd try to piece together what had happened to him.

The scratching hunger made it hard to focus, but Ren tried desperately to gather what was left of his mind to search the wooden box for weaknesses. His fingers fumbled across the seams, feeling for any sort of crack. It seemed fairly airtight. The smell of dirt had to be getting in somehow, unless his nose was just _that_ much stronger now, and he could smell the dirt _through_ the wood. The thought gave him pause, but he shook it off quickly and continued to feel around the edges, as far as he could reach on both sides. Nothing. There was no sign of anything holding the box together, either.

No matter what, he couldn't stay in this box. Ren had never been claustrophobic before, but if he didn't need to breathe... it was a very real possibility that he could spend the rest of eternity inside this box and be _aware_ of it. That seemed like a fate far worse than death and Ren wasn't going to let that happen. With that in mind, he pressed his hands against the top of the box in a desperate attempt to push it open. The pressure was light at first, but his panic wouldn't let him stay calm for long. He applied more pressure, and was stunned when, without much effort, the wood started to bend.

At first, Ren was shocked. He yanked his hands back and tried in vain to see the bend in the wood. The blackness around him refused to allow him any sort of vision, so rather than stew in his own panic, Ren lifted his arms and continued to push against the wood. With minimal effort, Ren found the wood bending even further. It bent further, and further, until it snapped under the strain. Dirt started to trickle into the box, and Ren panicked at first. _If it floods too much, I'll—_

The thought stopped abruptly when Ren realized that he _still_ wasn't struggling to breathe. In fact, the only struggle he felt was the aching hunger still clawing its way up from the pit of his stomach. Maybe he should have felt great, but the thought ultimately did very little to assuage his worries. In fact, it worried him even _more_. How long had it been since he'd woken up? In the back of his mind, he was fully aware of why everything felt so much sharper and clearer. The forefront of his mind, however, wasn't ready to face facts yet.

Ren pressed against the top of the box again, pressing against the crack and watching as the trickle of dirt turned into a steady pour. The pour turned into a landslide as he broke the box's lid completely. It was hard to move around in all the dirt piling on top of him, but through a generous amount of struggle, Ren managed to move the wood out of his way. He felt like a zombie, digging its way up from the ground. Horror books never told this part of the story. They never shared how much digging it took to get from the bottom of a grave to the surface, or how hard it was to move through the dirt.

He felt like he was drowning in quicksand, and even though there was no _true_ need to surface, the fear—the bone-chilling _terror_ —of being completely submerged in dirt was enough to make it feel urgent. No matter how hard he struggled, it felt like he never made any headway. The fear of being stuck made him struggle harder, but there was still no sign of reaching the surface.

After pulling loose dirt around for what felt like forever, Ren finally noticed a difference in the density of the dirt around him. That _had_ to mean he was getting close to the surface, didn't it? This amount of work usually would have _completely_ exhausted him. He didn't feel any exhaustion at all, at the moment. His body wasn't tired, nor were his muscles sore. The only thing he could feel was that _hunger_ , and it wasn't weakening him at all. It almost felt like it was making him _stronger_ , like it was chipping away at his restraint and making him feel desperate.

When Ren's fingertips breached the surface of the dirt, they were quickly overcome with a sharp and burning sensation. Ren hissed, his lip catching on the sharpness of his right canine, and he yanked his fingers back beneath the dirt. Ren frowned. He was standing, mired in dirt and with one foot in what was quite possibly his literal grave, cradling his hand from the burning sunlight. As he tried to wrap his head around what was happening, he finally allowed himself to think back to his encounter with the vampire. Ren remembered the last words the man said to him before he lost consciousness, and the sickeningly sweet liquid the man fed him. He came to a terrifying realization:

He was a vampire now.

As Ren stood, completely surrounded with dirt, and painfully aware of all the insects and worms crawling around him, raged boiled within him. How could someone who had once been a living being subject other living beings to such a terrible fate as being turned, and waking up alone in what felt like a grave? Ren didn't know where he was, and now he was trapped in the dirt until the sun went down. One of the few things Ren knew about vampires was that they needed a specific charm to be able to walk among humans in the sunlight. Without that charm, Ren was stuck exactly where he was.

How was he expected to make it through? Did the mysterious vampire _want_ him to burn in the sunlight? Rage quickly morphed into determination. Maybe the mysterious vampire wanted Ren to die, but he _wouldn't_. He would get out of here. He just needed to figure out how.

Ren didn't know a lot about vampires. In fact, the amount he _really_ knew could probably fit in a thimble and still have room. The encounter with the vampire in the alley was the first time he'd ever _knowingly_ met one. Most of what he knew, he'd read in books and heard from Haru. Haru had always been fascinated with vampires and their history, and Ren had lost count of the times she'd left books at his house after coven meetings. However, thanks to those books, Ren knew enough to realize that if he protected his skin from the sun, he would be safe for long enough to find somewhere to hide. It was all a matter of how.

Most of the charms he knew needed some sort of catalyst. The umbral stone Ren would have needed to cast a shadow charm was back at his apartment. It was far too heavy and impractical to carry around day to day. Conjuring was impossible, because Ren had no more blood in his veins to act as penance. Now that he thought of it, his lack of blood severely limited his magical prospects. Most magic was passed down _through_ blood. Using spell-based magic wouldn't be possible _without_ blood in his veins, and he didn't have anything to serve as a catalyst, so it was becoming increasingly apparent that he wouldn't be able to use magic to get out of here.

Fortunately, improvisation had always been one of Ren's strong suits.

It was hard to move in the dirt, but Ren managed to shrug his shoulders and lifted his vest to hang over his head. It wasn't a perfect hood, but it was enough to shield his face from the sun as long as he kept his back to the horizon. He tugged his hands into his sleeves and then dug toward the surface. It was awkward to move with his hand restricted, but Ren dug through the dirt, making his way back to the surface. When his fabric-covered hand broke through, Ren could feel the sun's warmth, but just as he'd expected, it didn't burn anymore.

He dug his way to the surface, slipping awkwardly on the loose dirt as he moved. Somehow, in the back of his mind, he thought this would be more elegant. Vampires were written to have excellent strength and agility, and to make everything humans did look remarkably simple. This didn't feel simple. It felt sloppy and difficult, and Ren's legs couldn't find any footing on the soil. He almost dropped his vest twice, but the fear of burning in the sun made him prioritize keeping the vest in place over using his arms to support him. With considerable effort, Ren finally managed to breach his head up from the ground.

The sun was bright. Even under the cover of his vest, it almost blinded him. He cringed his eyes away from the light and gave them a second to adjust before lifting them again. When he did, surprise overtook him once more. No magic he'd ever tried had been able to properly fix his eyesight. Ren figured it had to do with the fact that his vision had been impaired by a magic accident. Mixing the wrong herbs as a child had severely hindered his vision, to the point that everything he saw was blurry. Only his enchanted lenses could help him see properly.

At the moment, those same enchanted lenses seemed to be hindering his vision more than anything. The glasses themselves were covered with dirt, but that wasn't the problem.

The spots Ren could see through looked blurry, like the enchantment which had formerly been set in place to help him see clearly was being overridden by some sort of superior eyesight. Ren stood stone still for a moment, raising a cloth-covered hand and lowering his frames down his nose. He peered with uncovered eyes over the top of his glasses and blinked several times. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. He was in a forest—a familiar forest, near a village several miles outside of Tokyo—and he could see everything _perfectly_. It looked even clearer than it did with his enchanted lenses on.

In fact, it _almost_ looked clearer than it had when he was a child. Were leaves always this green? Was the sky always this blue? As Ren marveled at the sky, the sun moved from behind a cloud and hit his face. The burn seared his skin and he recoiled immediately. He ducked his head and covered it with his vest, cursing quietly and desperately trying to keep from falling into despair.

Ren pulled himself up from the hole and turned to look at the mess he'd left behind. The grave was marked with a red piece of plastic wrapped around a metal post, waving in the air like a flag. Through the loose dirt Ren had moved around, he could see the broken lid to the wooden box. What was the vampire planning to do with him? He'd been left there, in a lazily marked grave, alone with absolutely no clue as to what had happened after he'd passed out. After he'd _died_. Anger coursed through Ren like a tidal wave, and he turned harshly away from the grave.

"I'm going to find him."

How, he had no idea. Tokyo was one of the largest cities in the world, with so many people walking around and passing each other day-to-day who never learned each other's names. All he had to go on was 'large, bald vampire.' Considering most humans didn't know who was and wasn't a vampire, that didn't help Ren's case too much, but he didn't care. He would find the vampire who had done this to him. Ren would find him, and then—

Before the thought had a chance to form any further, a torturous aroma hit Ren's nostrils. It was strange. It smelled almost like copper, but there were several unique undertones attached to it. Never before had he been _appetized_ by the scent of copper, but as he turned toward the smell, he couldn't deny exactly how good it smelled. The hunger scratching at Ren's throat dug deeper, and his instinct screamed at him. The smell was moving closer, and a voice in the back of Ren's mind screamed for him to go to it. To go to it and devour it whole. The clawing hunger tugged deeper, and Ren turned toward the scent to follow his instinct.

As soon as he turned, the sun got beneath his vest and seared his face. Ren recoiled again, covering his face with his vest, and grunted in pain. A large open field, shrouded in sunlight, stood between him and whatever the aroma was. He couldn't go now.

The rational part of his brain knew exactly what the scent was. Blood, in a human or an animal. That part of his brain was insistent that he _not_ follow the instinct. His logic won out for the moment, and he turned away from the aroma. He canvassed the area, desperate for somewhere to take shelter until nightfall. After the sun went down, he had absolutely no idea what he would do. Could he go home? Was it _safe_ for him to go home, or would it put his friends and family in danger?

 _Not now,_ Ren told himself. _You have to hide. You can worry about that later._

The voice in his head, the one telling him exactly how much he wanted to go toward the delicious coppery aroma, taunted him. It reminded him that he could always hide in the dirt until the sun went down. Ren shook his head sharply to dispel the thought. The hunger clawed sharper in response. Ren tried to ignore it.

 _How long will you be able to ignore it?_ the voice taunted him. _This is what you are now. You're a vampire. Vampires drink blood. It's instinct. You have to do it. You'll die if you don't._

Again, Ren shook his head, desperately attempting to force the voice into the recesses of his mind. As the hunger burned hotter and clawed deeper, it felt like the voice was speaking more and more sense. Vampires drank blood. It was just the way the world worked. "No! Not me. I won't hurt people. I'll never drink from a person," Ren vowed to himself. "I'll never be a monster."

Just like that, Ren recommitted himself to scanning the area around him for a place to hide. As if it was an answer to his desperate pleas, Ren spotted a cave in the distance. A soft breeze blew by, teasing his senses with the pleasant coppery scent. The claws of hunger dug even deeper into his throat, and Ren had to force his legs to move in the opposite direction. While he rushed toward the cave, he repeated to himself—over, and over, and over again—that he would _never_ be a monster. He would never be like the vampire who put him in this position to begin with.

Ren was not a monster. Being a vampire was not going to change that.

Even as he repeated the mantra in his mind, that same cruel voice teamed up with the hunger ravaging his body to make him doubt himself...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Being buried alive (well... Ren _isn't_ alive, but you know what I mean) is a huge phobia of mine. I actually _loved_ writing this chapter because of it. It was kinda nice, putting words to something I fear so much and making it escapable. XD
> 
> It was also a bit of a challenge to write this, given how little dialogue there is in this chapter! It almost made it _more_ fun, though.
> 
> An even bigger thanks than usual to the amazing [Nada](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueCrownFics/pseuds/BlueCrownFics) for helping me make things feel more tangible! I appreciate you so much, my friend!


	3. Reduced to Teeth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _the verdict of the jury hung on_  
>  _the weight of what has become._  
>  _a starry night, a vengeful wish,_  
>  _it doesn't have to be like this._  
> [reduced to teeth](https://open.spotify.com/track/0LE27RGn9Q3WRVn2KjAjvl?si=tjANrlFnRbul_ORUKZWW5w) ;; finch  
> [ [youtube link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxOoXqz3XIw) ] | { [lyrics](https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/finch/reducedtoteeth.html) }

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **WARNINGS:** Vampire-style murder/minor-character death.
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> ♥♥♥♥

It was an alarming thing, how much slower time went by when Ren was waiting for a specific event to happen.

Ren had distinct memories of staring out the window of his apartment, watching the Yongen-Jaya clock tower as the hands ticked and seconds passed toward some event or another. Some days it felt worse than others. He even remembered occasional nights when he couldn't sleep, waiting for the sun to rise so he could go to these very woods with Futaba and Morgana to gather potion ingredients and spell catalysts. Ren was sure he'd been to this cave at some point, but it had been a long time. He turned his back to the mouth of the cave, where the sun shone in and bathed the area around him in its glow.

Even as he turned his back, the smell of moving blood—moving _people_ —teased his senses. Covering his nose and mouth with his vest did no good, and neither did covering them with his hand. It shouldn't have mattered, because he didn't need to breathe, but to Ren, it felt like a hot meal at the end of a long day. No matter how torturous it was to smell it, it was impossible to resist. Against his will, Ren breathed the aroma in slowly. It still smelled like copper, but in Ren's mind, it smelled better than a home-cooked plate of curry. It was almost like he could feel the aroma tickling the inside of his nose.

 _It'll be so easy,_ a small voice in the back of his mind—one that sounded remarkably like Ren's own voice—taunted. _You're stronger than them now. Faster. You don't even need to breathe so they wouldn't hear you coming until it was too—_

Ren shook his head sharply. Whatever that voice was, it was troubling and Ren resolved to ignore it. Even as he tamped back the voice, though, he could still sense the people nearby. Ren couldn't tell how far away they were. Ren didn't know if better hearing was a part of the vampire package, but all of his other senses felt sharper so he was willing to assume as much. If he couldn't hear them, they had to be a decent distance away. That was good. He couldn't imagine how much stronger the scent would be if they were any closer.

Keeping his eyes focused into the cave, Ren stepped forward. More distance between himself and these humans was better, and it was even _better_ to put the cave's walls between them. The further inside he got, the darker it became. This was a different kind of darkness than what Ren had seen inside the box. He could still see, though not by much. As he walked deeper into the darkened cave, he used the wall to navigate. Truth be told, it wasn't really needed. Everything felt sharper. He could hear his footsteps against the dirt clearly. Beneath the scent of blood in the distance, Ren could smell the musty, earthy smell of the cave. The ridges in the rocks felt more pronounced as he ran his fingers along the wall.

The hunger in the back of Ren's throat clawed deeper. Ren lifted his free hand, brushing it along his neck in a desperate hope that the acknowledgment would make the terrible feeling stop. It didn't.

Ren side-stepped around a small puddle of water. However, he stopped as soon as he was on the other side. He thought back to reading Haru's book about vampires. The book said something about vampires not having reflections without the help of that same enchantment that protected them from the sun. In morbid curiosity, Ren looked down at the puddle in front of him. Maybe it was masochism, but Ren couldn't reel in his curiosity. He was deep enough in the cave not to worry about the sun hitting his exposed skin, but not so far as to be completely shrouded from the sun.

As he peered his head over the edge of the puddle, Ren's mouth drew deeper into a frown. Nothing. There was nothing. It wasn't as though Ren truly needed the confirmation. He was smart enough to know exactly what had happened to him. He'd figured it out the second his hand had been scalded by the sunlight. Even so, seeing—or, not seeing, he supposed—his reflection made things feel that much more real.

Choking on a sob, Ren stood up straight again and made a point of stomping as hard as he could in the puddle this time. The water crept up the leg of his pants and dropped back down into his shoe, but he didn't care. He continued walking into the cave. Truly, Ren had no idea where he was going. This cave didn't have an exit on the other side. It was carved into the side of a hill. If it kept him away from the humans in the woods, though, Ren would dig his _own_ exit. The thought made him huff in laughter. The walls were rocks. There was no way he could actually dig through them.

Ren lifted his hand to his face again as he walked. His fingers traced the skin above his upper lip, and he stopped sharply when they brushed across the pronounced bumps where his canines would be inside his mouth. Fangs. Ren could feel the difference inside of his mouth. His canines protruded more, and every now and then they caught on his lower lip. Morbid curiosity had him lifting his upper lip and brushing his tongue along the right fang. It was extremely sharp. Sharp enough to easily cut through the skin. Ren's own skin didn't break, though it felt almost like pressing a needle against it. Much more pressure, and it definitely _would_ have broken.

Finally, Ren stopped in his tracks and leaned against the wall. Though he showed absolutely no signs of physical exhaustion, he was _definitely_ mentally exhausted. Vampires didn't sleep, he knew that much. Did they need to rest? Maybe just a few minutes to catch his mind up to the rest of him and come to grips with what had happened.

At the very least, he needed to figure out what to do next. Could he go home? Was it _safe_ for him to go home? He couldn't be near his loved ones. If he went home like this, if he hurt his friends and family, he would never forgive himself. The harsh truth was that Ren was a danger to them in his current state. If he could hold out long enough for the people in the woods to leave, maybe he could drink from some of the wildlife in the area. Ren didn't know if there was any difference between drinking from an animal or from a human, but he would figure it out.

It was the only way he could ever face his loved ones again.

The burn of Ren's hunger clawed deeper, and Ren realized that the longer he went without solving his problem, the more danger he was to these people. The cave grew darker, and Ren dared to step back toward the mouth. Creeping darkness meant that night was getting closer, which meant that he could put _more_ distance between himself and these people.

However, as soon as he took a step toward the mouth of the cave, he froze. A new group of people—a stronger smell of blood—approached. This group was closer, _much_ closer than the first group. As they approached, the coppery aroma of their blood completely overpowered the other group. Ren stood stone still, his hands clenched into hard fists as he tried to figure out what to do.

"No. No, go the other way. Don't come this way, please. Please go the other way!" Ren pleaded in a whisper, which still echoed through the empty cave around him.

Ren's pleas fell upon deaf ears, and the scent came closer still. Ren dug his nails deeper into his hands. The slight pain was the only thing keeping him from moving. He stood, still as a statue, fighting with the tiny voice in the back of his mind. The voice was pushed further back by every other rational piece of Ren's mind. His morality, his _determination_ not to stoop to the level of the vampire who had put him in this position, to begin with.

The closer the people got, the louder that tiny voice became. It woke up pieces of Ren's mind that he didn't know existed. Ugly pieces. Self-preservation and desperation sprang to the forefront, joining the tiny voice. _You'll die if you don't,_ the voice remind him. _You're starving. You know what you need to do to survive. It's their fault for walking through the woods at night!_

It took considerably more effort to shake the thoughts away. Ren thought back to what he'd read in Haru's book. Ravenous vampires were more dangerous than a hungry bear or an angry shark. Again, he pleaded with himself to see reason. Yes, he was starving. The clawing feeling, digging ever deeper into the back of his throat was evidence enough of that. He couldn't give in, though. These people had never done anything to him. Most people were unaware that vampires even _existed_. In fact, most of them were unaware of even _witches_. They thought Ren and his group were foragers, who gathered medicinal herbs for the hospitals back in town.

Outside the mouth of the cave, the sky was darkening. It was medium blue, hued with shades of purple and orange. The sun was far enough beyond the horizon that Ren could easily leave the cave, but with these people getting closer and closer with each passing second, there was no way he could allow himself to move. They were close enough where Ren could hear their footfalls in the distance. Their voices were soft to him, but he could decipher the sounds of raucous conversation and rumbling laughter. Ren still couldn't bring himself to move. It wasn't safe. If he moved, he couldn't guarantee he'd be able to stop the desperation from taking over.

Even now, it grew louder. _It smells good. It smells **amazing**. You want it. You need it._

Ren gritted his teeth. He could feel his fangs digging into his lower lip. They pierced the skin, and he could feel the viscous drip of blood—no, not blood, _venom_ —dripping down his chin. His fangs were dripping, and the venom mixed in with what came from the holes he'd pierced into his lower lip. He must have looked foolish. Stupid. He was dirty and drooling, standing in the middle of a dark cave, fighting with the animal in his head. The last of his rationality was stuck on exactly how degrading it was.

 _Exactly,_ the voice pointed out, capitalizing on his weakness. _Degrading. You're stuck here, like some kind of **animal** in a damned cave, just because they were stupid enough to be out and about at night. They deserve it._

"I won't."

The words were shaky and feeble. None of Ren's former confidence carried over when he spoke. He was becoming increasingly aware that the voice—his hunger—was more than capable of drowning him out. Still, he kept control. He couldn't move. He _wouldn't_ move. Immediately after he steeled his resolve, a sharp clang echoed out through the woods, followed by a hushed-but-sharp curse coming from the direction the people were in. Almost immediately, the coppery scent _tripled_ in the air. It was so strong. Strong enough to pierce through Ren's resolve and force him to shake his head sharply.

"No."

In a desperate attempt to keep himself in place, Ren's rational side tried to remind him that they were people. They were human beings. Someone's family. Someone's friends. No matter what he tried, the voice in his head wouldn't listen. He wasn't focused on the hunters anymore. The rational part of Ren's mind was pushed into the corner, and the hunger burned brighter and stronger than before. He tried to fight back for a few moments, but it was ultimately fruitless. The people were quickly becoming less than people, and Ren's focus was less about their humanity than his hunger.

Now he sensed one thing and one thing alone: the blood pumping through their veins.

_You can't! You can't do this! Listen. There are plenty of animals in the woods. You can go for those and drink until you're completely full, but you can't go after them! They're people. They're **people**. You might know them! If they live in that town, you might—_

"I need it," Ren snarled, his voice coming out in a desperate, raspy growl. "And I'm _going_ to get it."

It was almost like a switch had been flicked in Ren's mind, and now his _rational_ side was locked into the corner. The second he made the declaration that he was going to get the blood, he took off from the cave like a bullet. He navigated the woods like a nimble animal, effortlessly jumping over tree stumps and ducking under branches like he was born in these woods. Rain started falling from the sky, spattering against his glasses. Ren didn't miss a step as he lifted his hand to discard his glasses like the useless pieces of glass and plastic they were. At this point, all they were doing was clouding his vision and slowing him down.

_Please stop. You can't do this!_

Ren didn't even acknowledge the other side of his mind. He _could_ do this, and he _would_. He _needed_ to. He was close now. He could see the campfire in his periphery, and it would only be a few more seconds. As he approached, he heard the two men laughing and talking. One sat next to the fire, bandaging his hand. The other stood on the far side of the camp with his back turned. The pungent stench of urine filled the air and momentarily crept in around the blood. Ren curled his lip. Disgusting. The hunters talked cheerily about how great it would be to bring their kills home to share with their family, and it woke the last little bit of resistance in Ren's mind.

That _annoying_ voice sprang forth again. _They have families. Please! The forest is full of animals, and—_

"Hey! It's that forager guy! The one who came with the girl and the cat! Whatshisname..." The man cut off the voice's pleas, and Ren watched as he stood up, approaching eagerly like they were old friends.

From the other side of the camp, the second hunter laughed. "His name's _Amamiya_. I swear, Touma, you're the worst with names."

With a shrug, the first hunter turned toward Ren. "Can it, Ruto! Least I remember his face! Why don't you sit down with us? We were just gonna cook some of this deer meat we caught! After everything you've done for us, we owe you a meal!"

The man's voice brought the smallest bit of rationality back to Ren's mind. He stood, frozen in place, desperate not to cause these men any harm. Ren's eyes drifted to the hunter's bandaged hand as he approached, drawn to it like a hypnotist's pendant. The coppery aroma wafted through the air, and despite the aching, burning hunger ripping through him, Ren managed to keep himself steady. His will managed to hold out—he managed to overcome his hunger—until the second the hunter reached him, and reached out to place his injured hand on his shoulder. Even through the cloth bandage, the scent was too much to take. The monster in Ren was winning.

"You okay, kid? You look like you're—"

Before the man could even finish his sentence, the monster's hand darted upward, clasping around near the hunter's throat. He lifted the man and tossed him effortlessly aside, barely paying attention to the sound he made when he smashed into a nearby tree. It was a loud smack, followed by two loud cracks when he fell to the ground, but it was the least of the monster's worries at the moment. He charged forward, crossing the camp in the blink of an eye, and pounced the second hunter to the ground like a hungry cat attacking a mouse. Both men screamed, their voices echoing out into the otherwise quiet night. At this point, the hunger had taken complete control and the monster couldn't be stopped.

The monster ripped his fangs into the hunter's neck, ignoring the screams and feeble effort the man made at fighting back. Over the man's screams, he heard the second hunter crying about broken legs. The monster still didn't stop. He drank greedily, effortlessly fending off the hunter's desperate attempts to fight him back.

It was blood; coppery and organic blood. It shouldn't have tasted all that special. In fact, it _should_ have tasted disgusting... but it didn't. Not at _all_. At that moment, it was the most amazing thing Ren had ever tasted. It tasted better than curry or sushi or hot pot or _anything_ he'd ever had in his life. He drank more and more, and more _still_ , until the hunter's struggles slowly dwindled, and then ceased completely. Each drop of blood that surrounded Ren's tongue lessened the ache in his throat. His body felt stronger. His mind felt sharper. The monster's voice was a little bit quieter. The hunter's protests got quieter and quieter, until they finally stopped completely.

When Ren pulled back to look at what he'd done, horror crashed into him like a fierce wind. The hunter's body lie limp on the ground, covered in blood. Ren's hands were covered, and he could feel it dripping down his face. He wasn't moving. He wasn't breathing.

_Oh god. N-no. No! What did you—_

Ren didn't get to finish that thought. The sound of a guttural grunt caught his attention, and Ren snapped his head towards it. The second hunter was trying to escape, lying on his belly and crawling with his arms. Ren's hands shook. As much as he wished he could say he was sated, his throat still burned and his stomach still ached. He was still hungry. The monster's voice forced him back into the corner of his mind, and before Ren could try to control his will, he was already at the man's side. The man turned to look at Ren and panicked for a moment, but didn't stop in his effort to crawl away.

 _Leave him alone, please! Stop this! I'm not—_ The monster shook Ren's rationality away again, before leaning down to grab the hunter from the ground.

"Please!" the hunter begged. "I... I thought you were a forager! Please don't kill me!"

The hunter's pleading swirled around in Ren's mind, rattling the bars of the cage his rationality was locked away in. It wasn't enough. Ren sank his teeth into the man's neck, but this time it was harder to ignore the screams as they carried out through the forest. The hunter struggled, but unlike the last man, his strength was already waning because his legs were broken. Even so, he pushed fruitlessly against Ren's grip and grabbed at his vest, his shirt, anything within reach, in a desperate bid to make Ren stop. Ren drank and drank, and with each swallow, a bit more rationality came back.

Blood, Ren noticed, tasted a little bit different depending on who it was coming from. This man had a little more meat on his bones than the other, and it made his blood taste a little more organic than coppery. It wasn't _better_ , but it also wasn't worse, and it still tasted _amazing_.

Only when the second hunter was drained, did Ren manage to regain control of his mind. He wished he hadn't. He dropped the hunter to the ground, watching as he fell in a heap, and then took a stumbling step backward. He tripped over a camp chair and almost fell to the dirt, but managed to stay on his feet. With horror in his eyes, he looked over the camp. Two dead hunters, with blood covering their bodies. Ren's hands and shirt were covered in blood. He could feel it on his face, in his hair, dripping down his neck and chest. It felt like the sticky sensation of shame mixed with failure.

_"Why don't I show you what being a monster **truly** feels like?"_

The voice of the vampire who'd turned him played in his mind, and it dawned on him. That vampire had gotten his wish. Ren was a monster. He looked down at his blood-soaked hands, watching as they trembled in horror with the realization of what he'd just done. He'd killed them. There was no more blood moving through their veins. The only blood Ren could smell was the blood covering their bodies, and the blood covering his own. On instinct, Ren started murmuring a healing spell under his breath, but in the back of his mind, he knew it wouldn't work. He couldn't heal the dead... and even if he could, he had no blood left in his veins to call upon his magic.

Without magic, he realized that there was _truly_ nothing he could do. He'd just killed two men, and to make matters worse... he was still hungry.

Ren stared despondently at the camp for a few more seconds. He whispered a silent apology to the hunters—for all the good that did them—and then hurried away to sate his appetite on some of the nearby fauna. After that? Well... after that, Ren had no idea what he would do...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, that uh... happened! Ren is having a very, very bad night. A bad night for the record books.
> 
> Thanks, as always, to the amazing, wonderful, incomparable [Nada](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueCrownFics/pseuds/BlueCrownFics) for her help, both as a beta and as an idea-bouncing buddy! She's great, guys! I appreciate her so much.


	4. But Home Is Nowhere

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _i lay strewn across the floor,_  
>  _pieced up in sorrow._  
>  _the pieces aren't right, the pieces don't fit;_  
>  _pieced together, incomplete and empty._  
> [but home is nowhere](https://open.spotify.com/track/49aVAeHo288tTTbVGu6xGa?si=XmOVvhKDRzyY2ZStnhiF4A) ;; afi  
> [ [youtube link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7h_HSCFXwss) ] | { [lyrics](https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/afi/buthomeisnowhere.html) }

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **TRIGGER WARNING:** Mild suicide ideation. My goal is not to trigger anyone, so if you feel like you'd be triggered by this, please don't read!
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> Love you guys. ♥

The amount of blood it took to sate Ren's appetite was shameful. He wasn't sure what a vampire's appetite was _supposed_ to be, but in the end, it took draining an entire herd of four deer and a mountain lion to fill him up. Animal blood, Ren noted, tasted different from human blood. It wasn't better, nor was it worse, but the coppery taste had a gamey undertone to it. It was almost like eating wild game, as opposed to something raised domestically. Ren found himself darkly curious as to why the vampire who had turned him didn't hunt out here instead of killing innocent people.

Killing innocent animals wasn't a lot better, and Ren wrested with the guilt as he stood in the pond, desperately trying to rinse the blood from his clothing. It was _mostly_ gone. There was the specter of a bloody outline on his white undershirt, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't clean it off.

Ren glanced down in the water and choked on a sob. It was dark, but he still _should_ have been able to see his reflection. While he could see the moon and stars clearly reflected in the surface, that was it. There was no sign of his face; no way for him to know if he'd cleared all the blood away. There was no way for him to even see what this new version of him looked like. The water rippled around Ren's middle, but aside from the ripples and the sounds, and the fact that he was soaking wet, there was no way to tell he was even in the water. All Ren could see reflected back at him were the normal forest sights.

Another sob bubbled up from his throat, and he turned his eyes to the sky. Dozens of miserable thoughts swirled around in his mind, but the biggest one was the fact that he _still_ couldn't go home. For the time being, he was satiated. He wasn't hungry anymore. What would happen the next time he got hungry, though? He was a danger to people. He was a danger to his family, his friends, everyone he loved. What would happen when he was around a large number of people, all close together, like they were in the city? Would he snap and go on a murder spree?

He didn't know, but he didn't want to find out, either.

While he wasn't safe around people, that didn't change the fact that Ren desperately, truly feared being alone. It was a fear that had haunted him for the entire century-plus that he'd been alive. Ren wasn't built to be alone, and he did his best to make sure he was always surrounded by his friends and his found family. Now, what was he supposed to do?

The feeling struck him like a bolt of lightning from the midnight sky, as he looked up at the moon and the stars. Despair clawed into him where hunger had formerly taken residence, shooting down into the core of his heart and bringing the full weight of what he'd done crashing into him full-force. He was a murderer. He had murdered two people. He was just as bad, if not worse, than the vampire who had done this to him, to begin with. Ren stood in the middle of the pond, soaking wet, and made a feeble attempt not to break down. A monster. A murderer. He wasn't worthy of the people he cared about.

As long as he was like this, they were better off without him.

Slowly, Ren pulled himself from the pond. Water dripped from his clothing into the sand, but where he would have felt chill before, now all he felt was wet. He looked down at himself, and then up at the sky. All this time, he'd been trying to figure out what he was supposed to do now, but the answer was obvious all along.

Ren couldn't live like this.

Not only would he be alone, without the people he loved, but he would be forced to hurt people if he wanted to survive. All he'd wanted to do all his life was use his magic to _help_ people. Now, not only could he not do that, but he had to do the exact opposite. He would be forced to slink around at night, preying on innocent victims. Well, Ren refused. He wouldn't become the monster the vampire wanted him to be. He looked down at his hands, ghastly pale though they were, and steeled himself. The vampire called it a waste to kill him. If he was afraid of waste? Well, Ren would make his fears come true.

A grim smile spread across Ren's face as he trudged back into the woods. He remembered the layout of the woods enough to know that there was an overlook nearby. The overlook had an amazing view of the Tokyo skyline, and Ren remembered taking Futaba and Morgana out there one day to watch the sunrise. Honestly, he could think of much worse ways to go out than watching the sunrise, staring out at Tokyo in the distance. Ren had always lived his life on his own terms. It made sense to end it the same way. He would much rather do that than become a shill, just because he'd chosen to save a woman's life.

The walk to the overlook was long, and even though Ren knew he could move much faster, he decided to use the time to think. His friends would be upset with him if they heard his thought process. Sojiro would be furious if he knew. Still, being as sad, as _angry_ as he was, was much better than the alternative.

Memories played in his mind like a film reel as he stared down at his shoes.

Late nights with Futaba, tweaking whatever little gizmo she was working on at the time. Futaba falling asleep over her desk until Ren tucked her in on the couch. Morgana getting annoyed with her because Futaba didn't live in their apartment and she spent more nights there than she did at Sojiro's place. The way Shiho wanted to use her weather control magic to make every day bright and sunny, and she fought with herself to allow rainy days to happen once in a while. Walking through the city with Shiho after shopping. Haru's garden on the roof of Leblanc. Coming home from foraging trips with Futaba and Morgana with dozens of new herbs and plants for Haru to add to her garden, so they could expand their spell and potion repertoire. The fascination Haru had with vampires.

The last thought made him chuckle bitterly. He could prove their existence now. He could answer so many of her questions, if only he could ever see her again. He shook the thought off and continued thinking back on his life.

For example, when Sojiro taught him to make coffee. The way Sojiro eventually opened his mind to Ren's recipe ideas and let him have more freedom in the kitchen. Morgana's habit of sleeping on Ren's chest, and the way he would always deny being a cat in spite of his catlike behavior. Searching tome after tome, desperately seeking ways to give Morgana the human form he so desperately desired.

Thoughts of all his friends cycled through his mind, and Ren choked on another sob. They would miss him, but they had each other. Futaba could take Morgana on as a familiar, and they would be fine. Shiho and Haru could shop together. They could all forage together, and they could all help Sojiro at the shop. They were strong, and they didn't need him. Somehow, the thought didn't comfort him as much as he thought it would. They didn't need him. Had they _ever_ needed him?

No. Now wasn't the time to be selfish. So what if they didn't need him? It was good. It was _good_ that they didn't need him, and he needed to remember that.

Ren arrived at the overlook and he took a seat on the edge of the high cliff, looking out over Tokyo in the distance. The city really was beautiful at night. He could see the various lights from business signs and the large light on the clock tower. The tower wasn't far from his apartment. Part of him wondered if his friends were at his apartment now, together, trying to figure out where he went. Futaba had location magic, which would have been a concern if Ren had any blood left in his veins. Without it, there was no chance she would ever be able to find him. As sad as it was, it was for the best. They were safer that way.

The airships flying overhead caught Ren's attention. They were far too high up to see him here, but it was a reminder of exactly how far society had come in the time he'd been alive. When Ren was a child, airships were just in trial stages, and people thought of them as too dangerous to be a sustainable form of travel. As someone who had been in more than his fair share of airships, Ren could attest to their safety. Watching them fly so high overhead reminded Ren of he spent picketing with Yoshida, advocating for their use. It was a shame. Now he'd never get to see Yoshida win his way into political power. He really was one of the few good politicians in Japan, and seeing him fix things would have been great.

It was heartening to know that his friends would be able to reap those rewards. Maybe one of them—or even all of them—would take his place and help Yoshida out. Yoshida was campaigning for awareness and equality between humans and the supernatural. The world would be so much nicer if witches—and even vampires and werewolves—didn't need to hide themselves. Maybe easier and safer ways for vampires to sustain themselves would crop up. Blood drives for vampires or suppliers around the city. The thought made Ren laugh under his breath. He'd lived in Tokyo all his life. If something like that existed, he'd probably know it.

Too bad. It would make things a lot easier for him. Maybe he wouldn't have to die.

Ren sighed sadly. The sky was starting to lighten, as the moon crested over the horizon behind him. The blue on the horizon lightened just slightly, and Ren marveled at the subtle change. Something about watching the night turn into day was beautiful. Darkness turning to light was so much nicer than light turning to darkness. In Ren's life, he didn't get to see this side of the story unless he had sleepless nights. He slept in a lot, and most of the time he went to bed far too late—no matter how many times Morgana told him to go to sleep earlier. Stars faded away, and Ren watched them disappear one by one. Each one flickered out, disappearing from Earth's view to make room for the sun.

The sky lightened a little more. It wouldn't be long now. There were so many questions he'd never have the answer to now. He remembered late nights, talking with Morgana about using his magic to find the answers to the world's unanswered questions. An unfinished air bubble spell sat on his desk in his workshop, and Ren laughed bitterly at the memory of starting it with the wish to see what was at the very bottom of the ocean or in the expanse of space. Now, it was up to Futaba or the others to find the answers.

Sojiro would probably be angry, never finding out what happened to Ren. Ren thought back to the day he'd agreed to let Ren and Futaba test their immortality magic on him. He was always willing to submit himself to their tests, rather than letting them test dangerous spells themselves. Initially, Ren and Futaba were hesitant, but he'd insisted so strongly that they really hadn't had much choice but to let Sojiro be their guinea pig. Luckily it worked. Never having to worry about losing Sojiro would soften the blow of losing Ren. As much as he wished he could tell them goodbye, this was much safer.

 _Plus, it's much easier than letting them know what I've done,_ Ren thought to himself.

A selfish attitude, maybe, but he couldn't help it. All of Ren's friends thought of him as some kind of infallible leader. Sometimes it was too much. It was hard to maintain an image like that, and it always made him anxious about failing them somehow. Selfishly, Ren would rather let them think he just disappeared than let them know he was a monster. The sky lightened more, and Ren braced himself, thinking back to the pain he felt when he'd dug himself out of his grave. This was going to hurt. It was going to hurt a lot... but after what he'd put those hunters through, he deserved it.

"Hey, you should probably find shelter."

The unfamiliar voice snapped Ren from his thoughts, and he snapped his head toward the sound. Immediately, when he caught sight of the voice's carrier, his hackles rose. It was a woman. There was nothing particularly special about her, upon first glance. She had long blonde hair, pulled back into a ponytail, and she wore a red leather jacket with black skinny jeans. Something about her, though... Ren's instincts immediately picked her up as a threat. He examined her closer. The paleness of her skin rivaled even Ren's, and she had the same small bumps in her mouth as Ren did.

Oh. She seemed like a threat, because she was a vampire.

"Um... did you hear me?" she asked, her brow quirked upward. "I said, you should probably find shelter."

Ren blinked dumbly up at her. "Huh?" he asked.

The vampire regarded him in confusion. "Do you have a charm?" she asked him.

"A charm?"

"Yes. A ch—" She stopped short and shook her head. "If you don't know what one is, you probably don't have one. Listen, we've got about twenty minutes until sunrise. Even at top speed, it'll take you about fifteen to get to Tokyo from here. You won't be able to make it to the Underground before the sun comes up, so you should probably find someplace around here to hide out until tomorrow night. Especially if you don't have a charm."

Now Ren was _really_ confused. "I... have no idea what you're talking about," he told her.

If the situation wasn't happening to Ren, it probably would have been hilarious. The woman's face contorted into a look of confusion, with her eyebrows furrowing and then jumping straight up to her hairline. Her mouth was a thin straight line and her nose was crinkled in uncertainty. "You're a vampire, aren't you?" she asked.

Ren frowned. "Guess so," he murmured.

"You don't sound sure."

As much as Ren wished he had some sort of confident answer to give this woman, he didn't. Yeah, he knew he was a vampire, but that didn't make the transition any easier, nor did it change what he'd just done to those two hunters. He huffed a short sigh, then turned to look up at her again.

"Fledgling?" she asked, before Ren had a chance to find the words to reply.

Once again, Ren blinked in confusion. "What?"

The woman finally seemed to be fed up, and she scoffed. "Are. You. A. Fledgling?" she asked, pronouncing each word deliberately like she thought Ren was slow. "A new vampire?"

"Oh. Yeah, I guess I am, then," Ren answered in a low murmur.

For a few seconds, it was silent, and Ren wondered if she'd left. He glanced over his shoulder at her, and noticed her looking at him inquisitively. "Well... all the novels are garbage, just so you know. We don't sparkle, and it doesn't 'only hurt a little' when we're in the sun. It's not glamorous, either. If we're out in the sun, we burn until we're nothing but overcooked beef jerky if we don't have a charm," she told him. "I'd suggest you find your way to cover before you turn into literal ash."

With a derisive snort, Ren turned his back to her and looked back out at the horizon. "Thanks for the tip," he muttered.

The shift in the air was almost palpable. She was still there, whoever she was, but he could practically _sense_ her mood shift as she regarded him in concern. "Hey... you're not out here on purpose, are you?" she asked.

Ren didn't answer.

"I'll take that as a yes," she huffed. "Why?"

It was weird. Ren had no idea why she was so concerned for him. They were strangers, and so far, all she'd done was make him feel like an idiot. Without a word, Ren turned back toward the lightening Tokyo skyline.

Anyone else probably would have taken his demeanor as a close to the conversation, but not this woman. At first, she just stood there. A few seconds passed, though, and he heard the shuffles of movement. She wasn't moving further away, though... she was getting closer. "Alright, I have a little time. I've got a charm, unlike you," she started as she sat down a few feet away from Ren. "Lemme take a stab at this. You've got a little blood on your face, so I'm guessing you let yourself get too hungry and you slipped up. Did you bite someone?"

Ren still didn't answer. He didn't owe her anything.

"Still doesn't explain the dirty clothes or the Extra Sad Face, but I think I'm onto something," she continued. "Did you stop in time?"

It was becoming increasingly clear to Ren that she wasn't going to stop until she got what she wanted. In an empty, emotionless voice, he finally answered her. "No," he said flatly. "And there were two of them."

The woman went quiet again. "Oh. Wow..." she remarked. "Sorry to hear that."

"Don't be sorry for me," Ren huffed. "Be sorry for them. And their families."

She nodded. "I mean, yeah. I am sorry for them. Doesn't mean I can't be sorry for you too, though. I might know a thing or two about what it's like to be that hungry," she explained.

Ren cast her a sidelong glance. "Yeah," he said plainly.

"Did no one teach you to know when you need to feed?" the woman asked, tucking some stray hairs behind her ear.

With a shrug, Ren explained, "I just came back."

The silence took Ren by surprise. He turned to look at her, watching as she regarded him in shock and then turned to look around at their location. She pulled a small piece of paper out of her pocket, shielding it from Ren's view and then took a glance at him.

"Wh-"

Before he could even finish a single word, she spoke up again. "You said you just woke up, huh?" she asked casually, folding the paper and putting it back in her pocket. "Around here?"

Ren nodded. "In the woods, yeah."

She stared out at the horizon for a second, then cast Ren a sideways glance. "I'm Ann, by the way. Ann Takamaki."

Why was she even bothering to introduce herself to him, if she knew why he was here? It wasn't a leisurely visit to the overlook. Ren had every intention of letting the sun burn him, and this strange vampire woman was introducing herself to him like they were going to be lifelong friends. Ren watched as she extended her hand to shake his, and stared at it for a few seconds. Finally, he lifted his own hand and shook hers.

"Ren. Amamiya," he responded in kind.

Takamaki nodded. "Okay, listen Ren," she finally answered, turning toward Ren. "I'm gonna level with you here. Sitting here, letting the sun rise and burn you just because you screwed up? It sounds like a cop-out to me."

With a scoff, Ren cast her an annoyed glance. "I don't remember asking you," he replied.

"You didn't." She shrugged. "I'm still gonna tell you, though. Lots of vampires around the world go through what you went through every day. They mess up, and it sucks. Some of them ash themselves, which is a pretty stupid way to cope. No one's denying that you went through hell. It sucks, killing someone who didn't need to die. But... there's a better way to do it."

Ren laughed bitterly. "Are you gonna try to turn me to religion?" he asked.

Takamaki shook her head and scoffed. "No! Listen. There's this place called the Supernatural Underground, back in Tokyo. Creatures who don't _want_ to hurt people live down there. There's a whole bunch of other vampires there, and we have blood suppliers who give us donated blood from around the city," she explained. "I'm not saying it's perfect. It's hard being around people and other human-like creatures sometimes, because they always smell so good. But in the Underground, there's this group of vampires and other creatures who... do good."

"What do you mean?" Ren asked. As much as he wanted to deny it, he was intrigued.

In an annoyed huff, Takamaki stood up. "We're running out of time. The sun's almost up, and in the time it'll take me to explain you'll be ash on the ground. Listen, I know you've had a really bad night, but I don't think you... want to die. Or, even if you do, I don't think you should. I know you have no reason to trust me, Ren, but I think you should come with me. I have an extra charm, and it'll be easier to explain on the way back to the city." She reached into her pocket, and extended her hand toward Ren.

Ren stared at her hand, blinking, and flicked his eyes back toward her face. She seemed serious, and Ren was definitely intrigued. The Supernatural Underground. Creatures who did good. What did she mean by "did good?" Well... he certainly wasn't going to find out if he turned to ash. Worst case scenario, if Ren didn't like what she was saying, he could just get rid of the charm and go back to his original plan. Though he was still unsure, Ren lifted his hand and took the charm from Takamaki.

"What do you mean, do good?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realize this chapter got a little bit heavy, but Ren did _not_ cope well with what he did very well, and it felt like the most in-character thing for him to do!
> 
> Note: I switched Ann and Shiho's roles, because as I wrote the vampire who found Ren, she started feeling more like Ann than Shiho! Plus, something about the idea of Ann saving Ren's life is sort of nice and poetic, isn't it?
> 
> Thanks to [Nada](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueCrownFics/pseuds/BlueCrownFics) for being amazing and always encouraging me to keep going through this stupid slump I'm crawling my way out of. She was an awesome sounding board through this whole process, and she's the greatest!


	5. The World You Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _i fall asleep with my friends around me,_  
>  _only place i know, i feel safe._  
>  _i'm gonna call this home._  
> [the world you love](https://open.spotify.com/track/3wdt67FZe0kNM90DB6Lp6U?si=41mZIbuES_avOMIwNmJcrw) ;; jimmy eat world  
> [ [youtube link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URjX4Fye1Pg) ] | { [lyrics](https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/jimmyeatworld/theworldyoulove.html) }

Tokyo was... different. Well, no, that wasn't true. Ren knew Tokyo was the same. Being in the Lower Quarter, with the Political Quarter looming hundreds of yards overhead, everything was just the same as it always had. It was Ren who was different.

As they walked down the street, all of Ren's senses felt sharper. He could hear so many conversations that, before now, would have been static background chatter. Two people to the left of where Ren and Ann walked, were talking about dinner plans. A trio of girls were talking about the clothing in the window of a nearby boutique. A father told his daughter the story of the pied piper, and warned her not to get too close to the street violinist, lest he lure her away. Individually, each of the conversations may have been amusing to observe, but all at once they were... too much. Ren heard every word, and the volume was almost enough to make him want to cover his ears.

Colors felt sharper and more vivid, too. Had the sky always been so blue? Were the bricks on the city's buildings always so red? Was the steam coming from all the nearby power devices always so thick? Ren was amazed with how much _clearer_ everything was. He knew that part of it was attributed to the fact that his vision was fixed, but even before his eyes had been damaged, nothing had been quite _this_ clear before.

Then there were the smells. God, the smells. The stench of engine oil was the last thing on his mind as he followed Ann through the familiar Tokyo streets. It prickled the edges of his enhanced sense of smell, as did the smell of food from the nearby shops, but the biggest thing he noticed... was the scent of blood. It was _overpowering_. Every person they passed smelled a little different than the last, but they all smelled... tantalizing. Ren's will-power was still low, hunger still burned in the back of his throat as he roamed the streets, and every time he moved, every time he passed a person, he was in an internal battle.

It smelled amazing. The aroma made the burning come back to his throat, and the familiar feeling made the monster in Ren's mind rattle the bars of the cage, demanding to be let out. Against Ren's volition, he took in a slow breath and inhaled the different aromas around him. The monster rattled the bars of the cage again, and Ren curled his upper lip, revealing the slightest peek of fang.

_You're still hungry. You want it. You need it. Look at all the people... all the different flavors. Just do it, it would be so easy—_

Before the monster could escape the cage and force Ren into action, Ann stopped him with a sharp grip on his shoulder. She grabbed him tightly, yanking him along behind her and shaking her head.

"I know it's hard, but... you've gotta resist it, okay? There's a fridge full of blood packets waiting for you where we're going, so... keep it together."

Ann's words were enough to stop Ren for the moment, but as a child bumped into him and giggled out an absent apology as he continued chasing his friend down the street, Ren realized that it was only a matter of time before he broke again. He really was a monster. His body was tense, but he tried to shake Ann's grip off. She didn't relent.

"I'll be fine," Ren rumbled.

Ann wasn't fooled. "Maybe, but I'm still not letting go," she murmured. "You'll regret it if you slip up."

With a huff—a halfhearted one, because deep down he knew she was right—Ren's shoulders sunk and he allowed Ann to lead him through the streets. "You're stronger than you look," he told her, hoping conversation would distract his mind.

"Yeah well, you'll be as strong as me when you learn to channel that hunger into something more constructive," Ann replied, tightening her grip when she felt Ren struggling again.

In a voice far more desperate than Ren wanted to give, he asked, "How long will it take?"

Sympathy flashed across Ann's face, and she ticked one shoulder up in a shrug. "I can't really tell you, to be honest. It could be fast, it could be slow. Everyone experiences it differently. For me... it took a couple of weeks before I could really walk around outside without wanting to hurt someone. The leader of my group though... she told me it was really fast for her. She said a few days after she turned, she was just... walking around among people. I was always a little jealous of that," she admitted with a laugh.

Ren wanted to laugh in response, but he felt like someone was running a dry sponge down his throat. It burned with hunger, and the only thing keeping him from taking off and satiating himself was Ann's hand on his shoulder. He stayed quiet for the rest of the walk, watching people as they passed. Every once in a while, a strange scent would hit his nostrils, mixed among the humans. Sometimes, the smell was accompanied by that same warning ping he felt when he first met Ann, and it led Ren to realize exactly how many vampires had been roaming the streets with him for his whole life.

It also told him how little he truly knew about the world.

Suddenly, Ren was acutely aware that they'd stopped walking. Ann was looking at him, with her hand still gripping his shoulder firmly. She turned her gaze toward an open alley in front of them, and Ren watched her curiously. This couldn't possibly be the entrance to the Underground, could it? The alley looked average. There was nothing there but a manhole and a large door leading into an abandoned industrial building, but as Ren scanned the area, he noticed that same buzzing coursing through his body. It felt familiar, almost like it used to feel whenever he would cast a spell. The feeling was the same, but different. Where it used to flood his body with warmth, now it felt colder somehow.

A buzzing chill went down his spine and through the rest of his body. It felt like his limbs were going numb for a moment. Anxiety stabbed at his chest like a dagger, but before he could say anything, Ann spoke instead.

"I can see the gears in your head turning a mile a minute," she mused. "Bet you're wondering why we're here."

Ren nodded. "This can't be the way in, can it?"

"It can. It is."

After a few seconds of stunned silence, Ren looked at Ann incredulously. "It's just a manhole."

Ann shrugged. "Is anything in the world 'just' what it seems, Ren?" she asked. "There are a ton of them, all over the city. The underground's leader hired a witch to charm them so only other creatures like us can see it. To everyone else, they just look like random stretches of brick wall."

Ren gaped at the massive alley. "Brick walls?"

"Yep," Ann nodded.

"But won't it look suspicious if we just... disappear into a brick wall?"

A woman walking by stared at Ren in confusion, and Ren realized that he probably looked insane. Dirty, with bloodstains on his shirt, talking about disappearing into a brick wall. He probably looked like a murderer, and the thought made him want to sink into the ground. Of course he looked like a murderer. He _was_ one. Suddenly he didn't care so much whether people could see them or not. He _definitely_ wanted to disappear into a brick wall.

With a shrug, Ann shook her head. "It's a glamour, so even if people do notice, they don't remember for too long." She paused. "Oh. Glamours are a form of magic, by the way. Witches can do them, but the fae ones are—"

"I know what a glamour is," Ren answered.

Ann tilted her head. "You do?"

Ren realized that he probably should have told her how he knew, but he really didn't want to say it aloud. One woman staring at him like he was insane was enough for him. "Can we just..." He gestured toward the manhole.

Sympathy etched its way through Ann's features again, and she nodded in understanding. Without another word, she led Ren into the open alleyway. As they crossed the threshold, the chilly buzzing went from something Ren could easily ignore to an all-encompassing feeling. It felt like the polar opposite of what Ren used to feel when he was casting a spell, and he flexed his fingers experimentally. It wasn't possible for him to still be able to use his magic, was it? He didn't have blood anymore. If magic was in his blood...

"See? No one noticed," Ann pointed out, breaking Ren's concentration.

Sure enough, when Ren turned to look at the street, everyone was going about their business, like nothing strange was happening. Ren blinked, his eyes catching a young man walking by. He carried a basket full of cloth in his hands and chattered with someone walking by like he didn't notice Ren and Ann standing so close by. Ren hummed thoughtfully. He knew glamours could hide the truth. He'd used them several times for costumes and other fun things. Never in his hundred and twenty years alive had he seen one this powerful, though.

Before he could think about that much more, Ann released his shoulder. "I'm trusting you."

Ren frowned. "Yeah," he answered. The temptation was still there, and the hunger still gnawed at him, but he was more intrigued by the glamour than anything else.

Once Ann lifted the manhole cover, the pair of them headed down a short ladder and into an open space. Ren was expecting a sewer, not a large, brick-laden corridor. The corridor was lit with bright magic braziers, casting the room in a pastel blue glow. It soothed Ren's mind a little bit, and he felt a little less hungry than before. Hunger still burned in his throat, but he didn't feel like it was trying to claw its way out from inside him anymore. Aside from the magic braziers, the only thing in the room was a large door with a twisting gear locking mechanism. Ren blinked, stunned.

"Wow," he murmured dumbly.

Ann chuckled softly. "You haven't even seen anything yet. Come on, follow me."

Ren was still stunned, but he followed Ann and watched in a stupor as she took the smallest gear in her hand. She twisted it counterclockwise, pulled it out of its slot, and then twisted it clockwise. A loud whirring echoed out through the small room, and it was almost deafening to Ren's new sharp hearing. Maybe normally, he would have cared, but at the moment he was too dumbfounded by the sight before his eyes. All the gears on the door twisted, and then cascaded away from the door. The door moved on its own as well, slowly creaking inward. Several smells accosted Ren's senses before he could even step inside.

First of all, he smelled other vampires. Whatever his danger sense was, it picked them up as well. Beyond that, though, several new scents crept around the vampiric smell. Earthy blood. Blood with an under-scent of the ocean. Blood that had a soft hint of the breeze. A malodorous scent crept around the pleasantness as well. It still smelled like blood, but there was a strong hint of wet dog and rotten meat, and Ren felt his stomach turn.

"Pretty strong, huh?" Ann asked.

Ren nodded. Behind the many different types of blood, he picked up other scents, too. He smelled food cooking. There's a strong scent of herbs and spices and cooking meats. That seemed a little strange. Why would there be food cooking in an underground dedicated to vampires? To say he was surprised was an understatement, but that wasn't even half the surprise the underground had in store for him.

As soon as Ren walked through the door, any words were stolen from his mouth. Whatever he'd been expecting... it wasn't this. Not at all. Typically, when he thought of an underground, he thought of a small, dingy hovel, home for a few people. Something small, quaint, a tiny group. His expectations were immediately shattered. Ren stood at the platform to a massive lift, spanning about a hundred stories, and looked down over a _city_. A real, true city, almost as big as Tokyo itself. He stood, mouth agape, and walked toward the edge of the platform, placing his hands on the railing and staring down at the city below.

Buildings, some larger than anything he'd ever seen in Tokyo, reached to the top of the massive, carved-out space. The city spanned as far as his eyes could see, and there were hundreds, _thousands_ , of little houses taking over the area. Businesses bustled, and people went about normal lives like it was another whole _society_ , existing underneath Tokyo.

"Confused?" Ann asked, leaning sideways against the railing.

All Ren could manage was a nod.

With a chuckle, Ann shrugged. "Not what you expected, is it?"

Ren shook his head. "You said... this was an Underground. Underground implies—"

Still smirking, Ann shrugged. "That it's under the ground."

"Right, but you made it sound like it was this renegade group of vampires who hid from the world and did good deeds. I wasn't... I wasn't expecting a _city_!" Ren shouted in disbelief.

Ann smirked. "Expect the unexpected. That's what life's about. Come on, let's go down the lift," she commanded, and grabbed Ren's shoulder before he could protest.

The lift itself was a marvel. Lifts in the city above ground were nothing like this. The lift up to the Political Quarter from the Lower Quarter was loud and clunky, and Ren was always afraid that the chains would break and he would go crashing down the hundreds of thousands of yards to the ground. This lift didn't seem to run on any sort of mechanism. It was a smooth, gentle descent, and Ren could feel that chilly buzzing rushing through his system as it moved. Did it run on magic?

Just as quickly as the thought entered his mind, it was chased away by another realization. As the lift got closer to the ground, Ren noticed that several of the people he'd seen walking around... weren't _people_ at all. There were several vampires among them, Ren's weird radar informed him of their presence. Of course, that was only scratching the tip of the iceberg. Some of the people in his range of vision had large butterfly wings, while others had bat wings and horns. There were people with pointed ears, and a few with large, spanning birdlike wings. Ren knew what each of them was.

According to all the tomes he'd ever read, faeries and elves died out long ago. Other tomes told him that angels and demons tended to stay in heaven and hell. All the information he had led him to believe that everything he was seeing was impossible... but here they all were, proving him wrong.

"Elves? Faeries? Demons and angels? I thought—"

Ann grinned. "Thought there were none left on Earth, huh?"

Ren nodded dumbly. "I mean, yeah. Every tome and scripture I've ever read says _none_ of these species have been seen in thousands of years..." he spoke quietly, moving toward the lift's glass wall and staring down at the people below.

"Of course you did," Ann answered. "They wanted it that way."

To say that Ren was completely shocked would not have been an understatement. He turned toward Ann, blinked, and scratched the top of his head. "So, they were all down here all along?"

Ann wiggled her hand, silently telling Ren that he was partially right. "Sort of. They still walk around up there, just like the rest of us do. Just, when they do, they're glamoured. The ears, wings, horns... all gone. So, you wouldn't know if you'd ever seen one," she explained.

"No. I was a witch. I would have known," Ren pointed out simply.

Tilting her head in curiosity, Ann asked, "You're a witch?"

Ren frowned. "Was, anyway."

"No, you still are. We don't have blood, we have venom," she explained. "So, you can still do magic. Just, you pay your penance with venom instead of blood. And it's, y'know, probably different than it was."

"Different?"

Ann nodded. "I know a witchpire who could only do fire-based offensive spells before she was turned," she explained. "Now, all she can manage to do are ice-based defensive spells. She makes great ice armor."

To be honest, Ren felt like his head was spinning. Knowing that he was still capable of magic explained exactly one of the hundred million things running through his mind at the speed of light. Now he understood why his body buzzed with that familiar-but-different whenever he was around some sort of magic. If he could still do magic, it made sense. It didn't explain, though, how he couldn't sense any glamours above ground.

"So... I should've been able to tell if someone was glamoured—"

Ann shook her head. "You may be a witch, but that means you definitely know that there are crazy powerful witches out there, right? Ones who know how to make those sort of spells undetectable?"

"Of course I do. But... they're impossible to track down," Ren pointed out.

Smirking, Ann shook her head. "Not for the Queen of the Underground. She's been around since, like... before recorded history," she pointed out. "She could probably _correct_ recorded history, actually."

To that, Ren didn't have a response. He was completely overwhelmed. Everything had been coming at him in rapid-fire, ever since he woke up in that damn box, and his mind hadn't had a chance to catch up yet. They stepped out of the elevator, and Ren watched as a group of several faeries played a trick on a man who _appeared_ to be a normal human. His smell, on the other hand, was the most rancid thing Ren had ever smelled before. He smelled like a wet dog eating rotten meat, and Ren's stomach turned again, but he kept his cool as he watched the faeries giggle and flutter away while the rancid-smelling man cursed them out.

The human creatures explained the need for food, Ren supposed. One more thing explained, about a million more to go.

Before Ren could ask, Ann beckoned for him to follow her. "Come on, we're gonna go meet with the boss."

"The boss?"

Ann nodded. "She's the leader of our group. We're sort of..." She paused, pushing some stray hairs behind her ear and chuckling awkwardly. "You know what, it's probably easier if I let her explain."

Ren followed behind Ann, and he quietly took in the scenery as they continued through the streets. Every time he passed something new, a new question popped into his mind, but above all, one question rang louder than the others. Had this all been beneath his feet for his whole life? Was there really a second society in Tokyo? One he knew nothing about? He shook the thought off before it could take root and quietly pondered exactly how they were supposed to get where they were going. Ren didn't see any method of transportation. There were no trains or carriages, nothing to get them from point A to point B. He knew that vampires had increased stamina, but that didn't explain anything about the species' without it.

"You know, you can just ask your questions, rather than just standing there trying to figure it out on your own," Ann teased.

Ren breathed out a sheepish huff, and shrugged. "I was just wondering how people get around. I know _we_ could get anywhere we needed to fast, but... what about a faerie or an elf?" he asked.

Ann shrugged. "Portals."

"Portals?"

She nodded. "Fae magic. They're strewn all around the city, and there's a whole network of them. When we get to the base, I'll give you a portal map, and—"

Ren's mind was already reeling with the possibilities, and he cut Ann off before she could continue. "Oh, so teleportation magic? Is it air-based or earth-based? Earth would probably be easier since we're underground, I guess, but air teleportation is a lot smoother. It'd probably be easy with the right catalyst," he mused.

"Oh, right," Ann hummed. "You're a witch."

With a nod, Ren shrugged. "A healer. Or... I was. I guess you said my magic will be different now?"

Ann nodded. "It's hard to say what you can do, but yeah. You probably won't be able to heal anymore, but you can definitely still do magic, and you can still sense it, too. It's probably been going mental since we got here, isn't it?"

It was hard to chase away a dismal feeling when Ann mentioned that he probably wouldn't be able to heal people anymore. Ren's healing was always something that made him proud. Up until the night prior, he'd never hurt a living soul, and had probably saved countless lives with his magic. Now... now he was just a monster, built to destroy. Even his _magic_ couldn't help people anymore. All his dismal feelings came back to him, and he found himself wishing he hadn't come with Ann at all.

Seeming to sense his mood, Ann flashed him a tentative smile. "Hey, I know it doesn't seem like it right now, but... everything will be okay," she reassured him.

Ren didn't reply. As fascinating as this place was, it was still hard to be happy. The smells were tantalizing. Not only could he smell the blood of each and every living creature nearby, but the smell of the food taunted him and made him wonder if maybe he'd forget what it tasted like someday. He would miss curry and coffee. He would miss _cooking_. Cooking was one of his favorite things. It could always calm him down when he was feeling upset.

Now there was no point.

It took considerable effort to shake the thought away, but somehow Ren managed. He followed Ann down a dark alley. At the end of the alley, there was a swirling, purple portal. Immediately, Ren recognized the portal as teleportation magic. The venom in his veins buzzed again, and he allowed the feeling to comfort him a little. The magic had an airy feeling to it, and it felt a little more natural than any of the catalyst based magic Ren had ever done. He allowed the feeling to take him over and push the negative feelings aside as he stepped into the portal behind Ann. The magic crackled and buzzed through Ren's veins, and the pleasant, familiar feeling did more than anything else to lift his spirits. Something about the feeling of magic could always soothe his spirit.

He could feel his body moving through the portal. At first it pulled him to the east, and then the pull turned slightly to the south. Wherever they were going, it was to the southeast.

Slowly, the teleportation magic halted. For the briefest of moments, Ren felt like he was floating in thin air. The magic pushed against him softly, urging him to step out, and he could see Ann on the other side, waiting for him. Ren took the hint and stepped outside of the portal, letting a tiny smirk pull his lips upward as the magic crackling faded. A lot of things may have changed, but at least that was still the same.

Just as quickly as the smile appeared on Ren's face, it wilted away. Ren stood in front of a massive building of at least a hundred stories, stretching all the way to the underground's ceiling. It was as impressive as it was imposing. The building was made of stone and golden steel, with large windows on each floor. There was nothing like it in Tokyo, and all Ren could do was stare. Was this where they were going? What was waiting for him inside?

Before his mind could cycle any further with the possibilities, Ann's voice cut through his thoughts. "Hey, you coming?" she asked.

Ren snapped to attention and nodded sharply. "Yeah! Yeah, I'm on my way... sorry."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so, we've finally reached the underground! Sounds like a kinda neat place, huh? This was the first new thing I'd written since I took my super long hiatus. Nada told me there wasn't a lot of rust, and I was truly surprised! I'm really psyched to share what I have planned for this series. We're going to some fun places later on!
> 
> Thanks, as always, to my partner in crime [Nada](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueCrownFics/pseuds/BlueCrownFics), for being the actual best beta/friend and for being my sounding board for all the madness coming in this fic. Buckle up, friends. We're in for an adventure!


	6. What You Want

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _do what you, what you want; you don't have to lay your life down._  
>  _do what you, what you want; 'til you find what you're looking for._  
>  _gotta remember who you really are._  
> [what you want](https://open.spotify.com/track/0uOo8xRtQ6okTZMR89ppVk?si=WVc_w3TiQgyr-ps1DZA-MQ) ;; evanescence  
> [ [youtube link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVWazHTunSI) ] | { [lyrics](https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/evanescence/whatyouwant.html) }

The Underground had a way of subverting Ren's expectations. When they got inside the building, all Ren could do was marvel at what he was seeing. Just like the outside, the inside of the building was just as imposing. The walls were made of polished walnut, and the rusty shade cast the room in a reddish glow. The floors were made of checkered marble, and decorated with dozens of cog shaped leather rugs. It was lavish and beautiful, but it was far away from what Ren expected. In a building like this one, he'd been expecting decorations of crystal and silken finery, but this looked much better than the image his mind had conjured.

Ann led Ren through a grand foyer with a reception desk. A small faerie girl with teal-colored hair worked the desk, and let Ren and Ann by with an eager wave. Once they had passed, Ann led them through a large door and into a massive stairwell, then beckoned for him to follow her. Ren was expecting them to get in another lift or to go up some stairs toward the top of the building, or something like that. Once again, he was proven wrong. Instead of going _up_ , they went _down_. Though he followed her down, he couldn't help but be curious who was _up_ stairs.

On their way down the stairs, Ren found himself wondering how deep this building went. It already stretched to the very top of the underground, so how far _down_ did it go? They'd been down two floors already, but Ren had no idea when it stopped.

As they rounded the corner and started down the third flight of stairs, Ren's nose was assaulted with a strong wave of unpleasant odor. It was rancid—it smelled like wet dog and rotting meat, just like several of the scents he'd picked up when he was walking through the city with Ann—and it burned its way through his nose, threatening to take his appetite away.

"Ugh, what is—"

Before Ren could finish speaking, he was interrupted by a brash voice. " _There_ you are! Boss Lady was wonderin' what was takin' you so long. She sent me out to find you," a blond man announced.

Actually, no. He wasn't _just_ a man. Ren had smelled humans above ground. While some of them smelled better than others, he highly doubted that _any_ of them had an odor like this. The wet dog and rotting meat odor started filling the air until it was completely impossible for Ren to ignore, and he brought a hand up to cover his nose. He tried to mask the motion as wiping his face, but he knew he'd probably lingered too long and made it obvious. For a long time, he'd thought the stench of burning engine oil was the worst thing he'd ever smell... but boy was he wrong.

"Oh, hey Ryuji. Sorry about that. It took us a little longer than I thought to get back to Tokyo," she explained.

The blond man—or whatever he was—shrugged. "Don't need to explain yourself to me. Queen's the one who's getting' impatient. This him?" he asked, pointing at Ren.

With a scoff, Ann rolled her eyes affectionately. "No, it's some other random vampire I found," she teased.

"Well how was _I_ supposed to know?" the blond boy asked. "I ain't ever met him before!"

Just like that, the pair of them started bickering affectionately. Despite the jabs they were throwing at one another, Ren could sense that none of them were really genuine. They smirked around the words, and eventually, the blond boy pulled Ann in for a hug. The hug was tender and warm, and while Ren _normally_ would have been jealous, that part of his brain was temporarily overshadowed by curiosity. How in the _world_ could Ann be so close to that stench?

With a smile, Ann pulled back from the hug and turned her gaze to Ren. "So, anyway, Ren. This is..." she trailed off once she saw the expression on Ren's face. "Um... are you okay?"

"I'm..." Ren answered sheepishly. "It's..."

The blond man laughed. "Oh. Me, right?" he asked, gesturing broadly to himself.

Ann jumped to attention. "Oh, right, that," she chuckled nervously.

"I wasn't trying to be rude, I—"

Shrugging nonchalantly, the blond man waved the apology off. Unfortunately, the movement wafted some of the unpleasant odor in Ren's direction in the process. He laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck and murmuring an apology under his breath. "I don't hold it against you. Ain't like it's your fault," he told Ren. "Besides, you smell like you took a bath in cheap-ass French cologne to me, and that ain't pleasant either. So, I'd say we're square."

The comment took Ren by surprise, and managed to pull a genuine laugh from him. "An interesting way of putting it," he mused.

Ann slid her arm around the man's waist. "Yeah, this is Ryuji Sakamoto. He's—"

"Werewolf, right?" Ren asked.

Ryuji nodded. "How could you tell?"

"Wet dog smell, every other species I thought died out hasn't, so... logically, it makes the most sense."

With a soft chuckle, Ann nodded. "Good instincts. Yeah, Ryuji's a werewolf. It's so weird to me when vampires say he smells like a wet dog. Like, I don't smell that at all, but everyone I've ever met says that he stinks. It's... it's different to me," she shrugged.

The grin on Ryuji's face told Ren more than words could have. If the affectionate touches weren't enough to get the point across that Ann and Ryuji were a couple, the warm and sheepish smile they were sharing would have done it. Ren didn't draw outward attention to it, but he couldn't help but feel a little bit awkward and jealous watching it. He would miss his friends, his found family. Knowing he'd be without them forever, and that he'd have to integrate himself into a new group, was a little bit daunting.

Ann seemed to sense his discomfort. She cleared her throat and stepped away from Ryuji, but slid her hand into his. "Anyway," she announced, "let's get you down to meet with Makoto."

"Who's that?"

"Boss of our group," Ryuji explained.

Ren hummed thoughtfully. "You still haven't told me exactly what this group of yours _does_ , though," he pointed out.

Puffing out a breath of laughter, Ryuji pulled Ann in close again and threw an arm around her shoulders. "Really? Couldn't even tell him what she wanted him for?" he teased.

Ann scoffed. "Makoto can explain it way better than me," she mumbled, nudging him affectionately with her shoulder, before settling into his side. "Unless _you_ wanna give it a go."

At first, it looked like Ryuji was going to try to find a sufficient answer in his brain, just to one-up his girlfriend. The gears in Ryuji's brain started turning, and Ren watched as his expression sank slightly, then fell into confusion. "We, uh..." he paused, then snorted a defiant laugh. "Yeah, y'know what? Let Queen explain it."

"Idiot," Ann laughed good-naturedly and nudged Ryuji again. "C'mon, let's go."

Though Ann and Ryuji continued to bicker playfully as they walked down two more flights of stairs, Ren's attention wasn't really on them. It took way too much of his focus to ignore the horrible smell wafting up the stairs from Ryuji, and whatever wasn't devoted to that, was devoted to watching his surroundings as they descended the stairs. The walls were made of marble brick, and the stairs themselves were made of dark walnut, just like the walls upstairs. His hand glided along the brass railing, and he craned his neck to try to get a look at what waited ahead.

When they finally reached the bottom floor, Ren was stunned by the sight before him. The trio stepped into a long corridor, with walls papered in dark gray. The floor was tiled with brown granite, and a long, purple rug which revealed only the slightest peek of the stone beneath. It looked like a residential hallway. The walls were littered with maps and photographs, and several tables and shelves housed other seemingly random decorations. The hallway looked almost out of place in a building that seemed to otherwise house work-spaces, and Ren was suddenly twice as curious about where they were leading him.

Several doors lined the walls. The knobs were surrounded with cog-shaped locking mechanisms, and Ren was curious about what was inside each one. At the end of the hall, three more doors stood. Two of them were even more out of place than the hallway itself. Unlike the other doors, which were made of mahogany and had metal locking mechanisms, these doors were made of thick, powerful steel. Instead of a lock, there was a thick metal bar blocking the door from the outside of each one. Ren stared with wide-eyed wonder as they passed. What could be behind _those_ doors? Was it something that _needed_ to be locked away?

The last door in the hallway was just like the wooden ones, only slightly larger. It stood on the far back wall, and Ren couldn't deny that it looked a little imposing. Unlike the small cog-shaped lock mechanism, this door had a large, intricate lock made of several different gears. On the top of the door sat a large clock, ticking away as the second hand spun slowly.

Ann stepped forward, shielding the locking mechanism from Ren's view. He heard several clicks, like she was twisting the gears in a certain way, and the sound piqued his curiosity. He stood on the tips of his toes, trying to get a look over her shoulder. Before he could catch a glimpse, though, Ryuji stepped between them. He held his hand up, wordlessly telling Ren to stop.

"Not until you join us, dude."

Ren blinked. "Now you're making it sound like a cult," he mused.

Ann turned around so sharply that she almost knocked Ryuji over. "It's not a cult!" she insisted. "We just need privacy. That's all. Now quiet, you two, before you make me lose my place and get locked out."

With that sharp declaration, Ann turned her attention back to the door and made quick work of unlocking it. The gears twisted, and the large clock over the top rang out three loud chimes. Ren was taken off-guard for several reasons. First of all, it wasn't even on the hour. Second of all, it wasn't even _three_. He could feel the magic in the air, but he wasn't sure what kind it was, and what it was doing. Most things that weren't healing magic were way out of his jurisdiction. He stared blankly up at the clock for a few seconds, and then looked expectantly at Ann and Ryuji for answers. Ryuji was looking at him with an amused grin, but Ann shoved him in the shoulder lightly, then turned toward the door.

"The door uses detection magic," Ann explained over her shoulder. "It tells whoever's inside how many people are on their way in."

Ryuji nodded. "Elves can do some crazy shit with their magic," he mused.

Oh. It was elven magic. That made sense... at least as much as anything else in the underground seemed to. Ren knew that Futaba could do some pretty wild things with her detection magic, but this seemed to be on a whole different level. He followed them into the room, and once again, he was taken by complete surprise. The room was a lot bigger than he expected, with several small side rooms. In the large center room, a massive table sat in the middle, with a large map spanned across it. There were several pushpins pressed into the map, and a few different strings set to form different triangles. Ren found himself more curious than ever about what the group did.

Before he could ask again, the pungent werewolf odor seemed to double in the air. Ren had just managed to acclimate himself to Ryuji's smell, but this second dose was like a shot straight to his nose. The reaction was visceral more than anything, but Ren found himself completely unable to suppress a small hiss. He silenced himself quickly, clapping a hand over his mouth. What the hell was that... and what the hell was that _smell_?

Luckily, it seemed like no one noticed the sound. An unfamiliar voice carried from the same area as the horrible smell. " _There_ you guys are! I was wondering when you were gonna come back!"

Ren turned his eyes toward the sound and blinked. Whoever it was, they were obviously another werewolf. The boy had a small frame—much thinner and a little shorter than Ryuji—and he definitely didn't _look_ the part of a werewolf, but then again, everything else seemed to be so far out of his expectations so why should this be any different? He had dark hair on the top of his head, shambled into a mess that rivaled even Ren's own messy hair. He looked across the group with wide brown eyes, until he spotted Ren behind Ann and Ryuji. He craned his neck to get a better look.

"Dude," Ryuji responded. "I was only gone for like two minutes."

The boy huffed. "Not you! Her! And... and him!" he answered, pointing at Ren.

Immediately, Ren's hackles rose. "Me?" Why, and _how_ for that matter, had this boy been expecting _his_ appearance? As far as Ren knew, Ann had found him by chance.

Ann huffed an exasperated breath. "Mishima," she murmured.

"What? What'd I do?" the boy—Mishima, apparently—asked. Realization dawned on him, and his expression went sheepish. "Oh. Oh, I... uh... sorry, Ann."

Now Ren was doubly suspicious. He looked from Mishima to Ryuji,who was scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. When his eyes settled on Ann, he quirked his head to the side. "So you guys knew where I was?"

There were a lot of different ways for them to know where Ren was, but none of the ones Ren could think of said anything good about their intentions. The first possibility he settled on was the most troubling. What if, somehow, they were involved with the vampire who'd put Ren in this position to begin with? How else could they have known where to find him? Ann had seemed like she was there on a mission—a mission she was more than willing to abandon when she found Ren—which made him realize how distinct the possibility was. Before he could stop himself, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"How did you know where I was?" he asked.

Terrifying possibility after terrifying possibility circled through Ren's mind, and he was seconds away from rushing for the door, when a new pair of footsteps echoed from the other side of the room. The second the sound hit his ear, that familiar radar ping went off in his mind. He snapped his head in the direction of the sound, and cast a suspicious eye on yet another vampire. This one was yet another woman, with bright red eyes and brown hair down to her chin.

"It seems I picked a somewhat opportune moment to finish my radio call," the dark-haired woman mused. "There's no need to be suspicious, but yes, we did know where you were."

Ann looked relieved, and she waved casually at the other woman. "Oh. Hey," she greeted with an awkward chuckle. "We were gonna wait 'til you got here to tell him that part, but..."

Red flushed to Mishima's cheeks, and the unpleasant werewolf odor filled the air even more. "Sorry, sorry!"

The dark-haired woman smiled kindly at Mishima. "It's okay. This way, we can get everything out in the open much quicker," she insisted, before turning her attention back to Ren. "You must be the fledgling I've been waiting so eagerly to meet."

Her nonchalance didn't do anything to help Ren's suspicion. He regarded her closely, trying to get a read on her personality or intentions or _anything_ , but when he couldn't tell anything from a glance, he decided to answer and see what happened next. "I... guess so?"

Nothing in her expression changed. She didn't seem annoyed by Ren's suspicion, nor was she offended. She took a seat on the table in the middle of the room and looked him over with a little more scrutiny. "I understand your suspicion, believe me," she offered. "I'm under the impression that you've had a rather eventful night, so I would be more surprised if you didn't have questions."

Ren didn't answer. His mind went back to the campsite and the hunters, and another wash of guilt hit him like a crashing wave. He hadn't forgotten, of course, but with everything happening around him, it had temporarily been chased from his mind. The thought that he'd allowed himself to stop thinking about it for even a minute made him feel even _guiltier_ , but instead of revealing his weakness, he turned to look at the woman and nodded once.

A tiny bit of curiosity found its way to the woman's expression. "Well, we can start with introductions, then. You've met Ann and Ryuji, of course. This is Yuuki Mishima, and I'm Makoto Niijima," she told him.

"Ren. Amamiya," he answered plainly.

Makoto stood and crossed the distance between them. She extended her hand to Ren and offered a friendly smile. "Pleased to meet you," she told him, once he accepted the handshake. "Don't worry, I won't beat around the bush. I'm sure you have more than a few questions about us, so let's start by explaining what we do. We're... well, the best way to describe what we are is by saying we're a team of contracted bounty hunters. We work primarily for—"

Ren cut her off. "Wait. Hang on a sec," he told her. "You still haven't told me how you found me."

With a confident laugh, Makoto brushed a hand through her hair and moved back to the table in the center of the room. "You're right, I got ahead of myself. I apologize," she mused as she boosted herself back up onto the desk. "A seer came to us last night from outside the city. He told us he saw a man burying you in the woods, and while he said he couldn't get a proper look at his face, he didn't want the villagers to be in any danger. So, we did our best to get to you before you woke up and—"

"Uh, Makoto? About that..." Ann cut Makoto off, then trailed off just as quickly.

Ren didn't speak up, but he had a feeling he didn't need to. He looked down at the floor, trying to keep the shame from clouding his whole expression and making matters that much worse. Just as soon as Ren's curiosity chased his shame away, it came flooding back full force. He didn't want to forget about what he'd done, but that didn't mean he wanted a whole room full of people to know about it either.

"Oh. I see. It's..." Makoto trailed off, then went quiet for a few tortuously long seconds. "I see."

It felt like every eye in the room was on Ren right then. Suddenly, he wanted nothing more than to dash out of the room, up the stairs, and take the lift back to the surface. Even among others like him, everyone looked at him like he was a monster. Maybe coming here had been a mistake. Maybe... maybe he should have just stuck with his original plan and stayed out in the sunlight. He wasn't just a vampire, he was a murderer. He was a murderer _twice over_ , which meant that he had absolutely no right to be among others.

Makoto seemed to catch on, and she broke the silence with a surprisingly gentle voice. "Don't mistake our silence, Ren," she told him. "No one blames you for what happened."

"How can you not? I—"

Before Ren could finish, Makoto cut him off and continued. "Aside from Mishima, every one of us have been there. I woke up alone in a morgue, and I killed the mortician. I didn't..." she paused, looking down at the floor with a sheepish and sad expression on her face, but quickly forced herself to look up at Ren again. "I didn't know how to control myself yet. It isn't something that comes naturally."

Ann seemed to draw courage from Makoto's confession. "I killed a guy, too," she told Ren, her eyes somber. "I woke up in the hospital's temporary body storage, and I killed a doctor as I was trying to escape. I was so hungry, and I... yeah. I couldn't stop myself, either."

"I'm the reason Mishima's even here," Ryuji confessed quietly. He turned his gaze toward Mishima in silent apology. "I didn't kill him, but... he's a wolf, too, because of me. I made sure I brought him back here, though, so he was prepared and didn't make the same mistakes I did." Obviously, it was cold comfort, but Ren was glad that at least one of them managed to restrain themselves before they'd outright killed someone.

It was surprising, how willing all of them were to share their stories with him. He looked at each face in the room. Empathy—not sympathy, and Ren was glad for that—lined everyone's features. Even Mishima didn't seem to judge any of them, despite being the only one who had never killed anyone. Ren assumed that it was probably because he understood not being able to control his own mind, but he was grateful for it. He didn't quite think he _deserved_ the kindness the group was showing him, but he couldn't help but feel comforted, for the first time since he'd woken up in that box.

Makoto finally broke the silence. "We won't apologize, because we're all in the unique position to understand that you likely don't want sympathy," she said quietly.

"I don't," Ren agreed.

With a grim smile, Makoto continued. "We will, however, offer you understanding ears, and a place among us," she told him.

Ren blinked. "Among you?"

To Ren's surprise, Mishima spoke up instead of Makoto. "Yeah! Like Makoto said, we're bounty hunters! The Queen of the Underground contracts us a lot, so we do a lot of work for her!"

With a chuckle, Ann scratched the top of her head. "It's not, like... busy work or anything. We take out dangerous creatures who've rejected the Underground and run free around Tokyo, hurting people," she explained.

Ryuji nodded. "Yeah, and it ain't like we just work for her, either. We can work on our own, if we catch a lead about someone who's doing some bad shit up there," he told Ren, pointing up toward the surface. "It's not really a fix-it for your fuck-ups, but if you're anything like me, it'll help you feel like you're putting a little good into the world to make up for the bad you did."

Smiling in satisfaction, Makoto cast her eyes around the room at each of the other members of her group. When she finally settled on Ren, she shrugged. "It may sound odd, but I assure you, it's a worthwhile feeling when we finish a job," she insisted.

"I think I understand," Ren murmured.

Makoto sighed in relief, and cast Ren an appraising glance. "So, what do you think, then? Do you need some time to consider?" she asked.

Truthfully, it didn't really take much consideration. As much as he hated his circumstances now, he really didn't want to be alone. He couldn't go back home, and despite his earlier determination... he really didn't want to die. Everyone in this group seemed like nice enough people, and according to Ryuji, what they did made up for what they'd done in the past. He would miss his old friends, but just because he couldn't be with them anymore didn't mean that he couldn't protect them from a distance. After a moment of sad contemplation, Ren realized that his decision was made before he even started thinking.

Ren met Makoto's gaze with a level expression on his face, and asked, "When can I start?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you may have noticed, I changed the title of this fic from Midnight Eyes to Quicksand! The name of the series as a whole is Midnight Eyes now, and the first installment of the series is Quicksand! Hope that's not too disorienting. ♥
> 
> Ryuji, Makoto, and Mishima have entered the arena! XD Not to mention, Ren has a new lease on existence and decided not to give up! :D
> 
> For those of you who are wondering when Yusuke shows up... soon! Very soon! XD
> 
> Thanks, as ever, to [Nada](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueCrownFics/pseuds/BlueCrownFics) for the plot bouncing, the beta, and the cheerleading when I need it!


	7. Count the Saints

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _i'm a sorry soul in a sinful world,_  
>  _and you don't get out alive._  
>  _if I meet myself in a halfway home,_  
>  _i'll remember the things you said._  
> [count the saints](https://open.spotify.com/track/0gEBqdcrPOm0E8PTZCPg90?si=3u6LEqKxTN-XR2oaOE7yfA) ;; foxes  
> [ [youtube link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lXe1vPINmc) ] | { [lyrics](https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/foxes/countthesaints.html) }

For the past fifty years, Ren's existence had fallen into a different routine. Since sleep was no longer a factor, routines were harder to fall into. Ultimately, rest only really came when hunger took over and Ren had to return to HQ to feed on the blood packs in his refrigerator. His life's routine was based around _that_ need, rather than any need for rest at night.

The fact that he didn't need to sleep anymore was the main positive of his vampirism. Being awake for twenty-four hours afforded him a lot of opportunities he'd never had as a human. When he wasn't working, he researched new magical techniques. When Ann had told him that his magic was different now, she hadn't been exaggerating. When he was alive, his blood allowed him to specialize in healing magic. His skill at healing was the one thing he really liked to brag about. Now, with venom coursing through his veins instead of blood, he could only destroy. He'd learned to start fires, to break objects from a distance, and to make things degrade.

It was an interesting difference, and it definitely helped him with his work, but it was always a little painful to hurt people instead of healing them.

As time went by, Ren had watched from a distance as his former family continued their lives. It had taken a lot for Ren to convince them that he was dead. Futaba hadn't wanted to believe it, and searched high and low for years for any signs that he was still alive. Ren finally took action and left clues, in the form of his broken glasses and a death certificate falsified by a doctor from the underground. Initially, she still hadn't wanted to believe it. Denial, Ren reasoned. Finally, she'd come to accept it, and although Ren wished he could be relieved, _instead_ she'd devoted her time to finding clues about who'd killed him.

To dull the sadness and fill the long and restless hours between jobs, he'd taken up several different hobbies. He'd cultivated an impressive garden in the courtyard of the Underground's government building. The garden was composed of several herbs with soothing scents and reagents for every single kind of potion he could ever need, plus some that he'd planted just because they looked nice. It was bittersweet, whiling away free time in the garden. It always made him think of Haru, and the way she worked in her rooftop garden until the others had to force her inside.

Ren had also discovered a strange affinity for tinkering with gadgets. Maybe it was all the advice Futaba had given him over the years, but every time he got something new for his room, he would spend several hours tinkering with it. At first, he had trouble with it. He shocked himself dozens of times, in ways that would have easily killed a human. Thankfully, with his physiology, he'd only felt the slight jolt of the shock, and he'd learned some tricks on his own. They may not have been the best quality in the underground, but they were definitely a cut above the average. His radio and television picked up broadcasts from above ground. The refrigerator where he kept the blood he drank could be set to any temperature at all. Several simple things that improved the quality of his existence.

From time to time, when he was out and about, he would see stray animals in danger. Another of his hobbies was to seek them out and bring them to healers in the city. He'd easily saved hundreds of cats, dogs, rabbits... even the occasional mouse had found a new lease on life thanks to him. It was a hobby that reminded him of Shiho, and the way she always nursed wounded animals back to health. More than once, he'd been tempted to keep a cat or a dog he found, but he reminded himself how dangerous it would be for an animal like that to be around a monster like him. Every time he saved a cat and they looked at him like he was the most important person alive, he thought of Morgana.

Luckily, not all his hobbies were bitter reminders of his old friends. Ren had picked up several languages. The first was the ancient vampire dialect, which had died out several centuries ago. Ren didn't really speak it much himself, but it helped him to understand when older vampires were murmuring derogatory things about the underground. He also spoke some French, Spanish, and German, and was just beginning to pick up bits of English. He'd learned to play guitar as well, and was a better singer than he ever could have been when he was alive, because he didn't need to breathe anymore.

Even with all his hobbies... Ren couldn't help but feel like something was missing.

There was no time to think about the hole in his heart today. Ren had work to do. His job wasn't composed of one single thing. Some outings, he had to do recon, which occasionally took several days at a time. Today was his second day scouting the Political Quarter for information on their most recent target.

Being above ground always sent Ren's mind on a wild journey. He'd been around for more than a century and a half now. His immortality gave him a lot of opportunities that people with normal lifespans didn't have. He'd watched Tokyo evolve. Above ground, the city had built trains to take people all over the Lower Quarter in Tokyo and to points beyond. Trains out of the city were more expensive, of course, but a century ago, they would have been nothing but a pipe dream. Transportation had evolved in different ways too, though. Automobiles and airships were far more common than they were a hundred years ago. Carriages were far less common now, and were something of a status symbol, more commonly used in the Political Quarter.

Several such carriages were out and about today. Ren had always hated being in the Political Quarter. Everything felt so stuffy, so _uptight_ here. Ren felt out of place, and he was honestly glad for that. The Political Quarter was set hundreds of yards above the Lower Quarter, only accessible by a rickety old lift, and the whole place just gave off an aura of 'looking down on' the rest of the city. It was telling, really. The only good politician Ren had ever known was Yoshida, and he'd died decades ago. Ever since he died, the Political Quarter had grown increasingly lavish.

As the sector grew more extravagant, more and more creatures from the Underground opted to abandon the harder lifestyle. A mysterious liaison put them in touch with powerful witches, who glamoured them into secrecy. They walked among unsuspecting humans, hidden in plain sight. Most of the time, they kept the ruse up and stayed hidden. If they did venture out and reveal themselves, it was typically to hurt people.

The demon Ren was looking for today was one such example. According to Makoto, he used to live in the Underground centuries ago. He didn't like the restrictions, and moved up to the Political Quarter where he could get away with whatever he wanted. The demon was suspected in the disappearances of several Underground Citizens, but that was all they knew. They didn't even know his name. The only info they had on him was that he had dark hair and "eyes blacker than the blackest coal." A dramatic way to put it, Ren thought, but he supposed that was par for the course when it came to Underground creatures.

Ren looked around from his perch atop the bakery. He stood outside of the Political Quarter Bazaar, watching as the rich wandered around and spent their money on items way too lavish to be of any real use. The Political Quarter's bazaar was leaps and bounds away from the one in the Lower Quarter. The Lower Quarter's bazaar was more focused on necessities. Things such as food, medicines, clothing; things that people couldn't get through their day without. Up in the Political Quarter, it was far more extravagant. Clothing of the finest silks and satins, which wouldn't last even half a second in a real-world setting. Fruits and vegetables so rare that Ren hadn't even heard of some of them. Meat from animals from all corners of the world. Fine jewelry and trinkets, the likes of which the Lower Quarter would never see.

Some of the electronics were pretty fancy, too. Ren decided that before he left, he'd make a stop at the nearest shop and see if there was anything he needed.

A nearby carriage trotted through a crowded street. The driver stood up, demanding that the citizens get out of the way because 'Lord Shido' was late for a meeting. Ren snorted an unimpressed laugh and turned his eyes away from the carriage. There wasn't much he hated more than people who thought they were better than others.

As Ren watched a woman buy a whole bag of toys for her children, who whined and screamed that they were the "wrong toys," an easterly wind blew through the bazaar. Ren caught the scent of all the different blood in the area. Most of the time, he was good at tamping down his urges. When the wind blew and he smelled hundreds of different people, though, it woke the monster side of his brain and forced him to shove it back into its cage. Fortunately, he'd gotten a lot better at that over the years. It took time, just like Ann had told him, but he'd learned. He'd also learned what scents came from what creatures. Most everything fell into a scent category, but every different person or creature had their own unique under-scent.

Humans smelled normal; coppery and organic. Werewolves smelled like wet dogs and rotten meat. Demons smelled like a sulfury fire. Angels smelled sweet and pleasant. Elves were nature-scented, like a nice walk through a lush forest. Faeries smelled like a summer breeze. Witches smelled like humans, but with a slightly stronger coppery smell. All those smells mixed in his nose, and Ren glanced down over the bazaar with a frown as he realized exactly how many creatures were abandoning the Underground.

However, when the breeze picked up a little, a new scent hit Ren's nose; a smell he wasn't expecting. It smelled like blood, of course. Like human blood. The under-scent was stronger than usual, though. It was strong enough that Ren noticed it before the blood itself. It smelled almost like a pastry, like warm blueberries and vanilla. Ren froze in place, trying desperately to root himself to the ground, but as much as he tried to ignore it, the monster in his head perked up and jumped into action. The temptation was hard to ignore, but Ren willed himself to stay in place as the monster's voice raged inside his mind and told him to go and feast.

Curiosity won out in the end. Even though he refused to feast, there was nothing in his personal rules against investigation. He couldn't help but move toward the pleasant scent. As he jumped from the roof and onto the fire escape, he held tightly to the lapels of his jacket. He could feel the leather loosening in his tight grip, and he knew that he was probably doing irreparable damage to his jacket, but he couldn't bring himself to let go. The scent was _incredible_. It was the sweetest thing to hit his senses in the last fifty years. He wove through the crowd of bodies, following the scent until he'd zeroed in on the general area.

Ren stood before an intricate paint stall, called 'Tanaka's Fine Paints,' with paints made of rare imported dyes. The sign boasted that they got their products from countries around the world, from places like England and France. If Ren was in his right mind, he might have wondered how much of that was true. Shops in the Political Quarter were known for lying just to sell their wares. At the moment, though, all he could focus on was that pleasant scent. He needed to find out who it was coming from. Why, he wasn't sure. He wasn't going to drink from them, no matter how tempted he was. He just wanted to know _who_ had such tempting blood.

"These paints are made of the finest cochineal, straight from the deserts of Mexico," the shopkeeper announced. Ren noticed that his face matched the man on the sign, so he assumed that it _was_ Tanaka. "You won't find finer paint in all of Tokyo!"

A young man stood in front of the stall, with his back facing Ren. Blue hair reached down to the collar of his shirt, and he clutched a cherrywood cane in his right hand. "This may sound a bit odd, but may I..." he paused, his voice going sheepish, "may I touch the paint?"

Tanaka's face drew down into a frown. "Touch the paint," he asked incredulously.

"I know it sounds strange," the young man answered. "I just... want to get a sense of how it will spread on a canvas, and to feel the—"

With a derisive bark of laughter, Tanaka looked at the young man mockingly. "Absolutely not. You can't touch until you buy it! That wouldn't be very fair to my other customers, would it? If I gave them a palette of paint that someone else had their fingers in?" he chided.

The young man's voice sounded embarrassed as he answered. "No, I suppose not."

Tanaka seemed almost bored with the conversation. "Now, are you going to buy it or not?" he asked. "The gentleman beside you seems to be eyeing it, and I know for a fact that he has the money."

Confusion furrowed Ren's brow as he looked around. The young man with the blue vest to match his blue hair was the only one at the stand, but for some reason, he didn't seem to question the shopkeeper's word. Several questions appeared in Ren's mind, but they were all overshadowed by one thing. Ren realized now where the pleasant blueberry and vanilla scent was coming from. It was coming from this blue-haired young man. A breezy smell crept around the edges of Ren's senses, and he realized that Tanaka was a faerie. It made sense, of course. They were known for tricks and were usually pretty shrewd shopkeepers.

Though Ren didn't know why, he found himself compelled to walk a little bit closer. He approached a nearby leather goods shop, and put himself within range to hear the conversation without having to strain too much. It also allowed him to get a closer look at the blue-haired young man. His left eye was a sharp silver, the likes of which Ren had never seen before. His right was surrounded by heavy scarring, and appeared almost like it was sealed shut. Morbid, misplaced curiosity had Ren wondering exactly what had happened. Ren pretended to study a leather bag, but focused all his attention on listening to the conversation.

"There are twenty-four colors here?" the blue-haired boy asked.

"Why, of course," Tanaka replied with a grin. "And what you lack here, surely you can mix. You claim you're an artist, correct?"

The young man laughed sheepishly. "I'm afraid that isn't quite as easy as it sounds," he told the shopkeeper. "How much did you say it costs again?"

Tanaka placed the box of paint on the counter before him and said, "48,000 yen. 2,000 per color. A very reasonable price for cochineal paints, yes?"

"Oh, absolutely! That's much less than what I usually pay!"

Ren examined the box of paints. 2,000 per color seemed steep to him, but what did he know? He wasn't an artist. A closer look, though, showed exactly _why_ the offer seemed so excessive. Beneath the clear plastic cover, Ren could clearly see the paint jars inside the box. He could only see six different colors. The young man didn't seem to notice, though. He rooted through a small leather pouch for several yen bills, with an eager smile on his face, and that was when the situation dawned on Ren. The blue-haired young man was blind. That was the only way Ren could possibly see for such a misunderstanding.

Did Tanaka really plan on ripping him off, just because he couldn't see?

Maybe Ren should have walked away. It wasn't really his business. Something inside of him was pulling him toward the blue-haired young man, though. Maybe it was the pleasant aroma clouding his senses, but Ren didn't think it was that simple. Dismissing it as an unwillingness to see someone treated so unfairly, Ren quickly crossed the distance to the paint stall and cleared his throat.

"Excuse me," Ren spoke up.

The blue-haired young man turned toward the sound of Ren's voice. "The other customer who wanted to buy the paint?" he asked.

Before Ren could reply, Tanaka spoke up. "Yes," he answered, casting Ren a sharp glare. "My apologies, sir, but—"

Ren narrowed his eyes and shook his head. "No. There's no other customer," he told the young man. "You were actually alone here until I showed up a couple of seconds ago."

Brows drawing downward in confusion, the blue-haired young man clutched his money a little tighter in his hand. "Excuse me?" he asked Ren.

"Yeah," Ren answered. "He's lying to you. There are also only six jars of paint in the box, not twenty-four. So, he's also trying to rip—"

Tanaka's eyes danced with an angry fire. "I beg your pardon, but just because the boy can't see to discern the truth doesn't give you the right to show up here all of a sudden and lie in order to confuse him!" he snapped angrily at Ren.

It was almost enough to make Ren laugh. Instead, he looked from the shopkeeper to the young man, who seemed conflicted by all the new information. He clung tighter to both his cane and his money, and the tension in his posture made his blood pound harder in his veins. The smell crashed into Ren like a wave, but Ren tamped his instincts back without too much effort. He turned his attention back to Tanaka.

"You're really going to imply that I was the 'other gentleman who wanted to buy the paint,' and then two minutes later, try and tell me that I 'showed up here all of a sudden?'" Ren asked incredulously. "Who's the one trying to lie and confuse him now?"

With a smirk, Tanaka shrugged nonchalantly. "Well, does it particularly matter? The boy is incapable of proving either of us wrong, isn't he? It's not like he can see who's lying," he mused.

A slightly offended look crossed the young man's face, and he looked at Tanaka in annoyed disbelief. "Excuse me—"

Ren cut the young man off, and shook his head at Tanaka. "No, he could. All you'd have to do was open the top of the box using that little latch there, and let him feel the jars to count for himself." When Tanaka didn't immediately fire back with a response, Ren's grin grew wider. "I mean, if you're telling the truth, you'll have no problem with that, right, Tanaka?"

The young man lifted his head, and a sidelong glance at him showed several familiar-looking bite wounds peeking out from beneath his shirt collar. Ren was momentarily taken off-guard. Some of them looked fresher than others, and one in particular stood out among the rest. It looked almost fresh, and was more of a dragging wound than a simple piercing one. The dragging motion reminded Ren of the night he was turned, the way the vampire dragged his fangs along Ren's skin. Self-consciously, Ren reached up and touched his own shoulder. Fortunately, the shopkeeper's voice dragged him from his stupor.

"Fine," Tanaka answered, visibly pouting. "There are only six jars here. They _are_ made of cochineal, though, and it is from Mexico, so I'm still going to have to charge you 2,000 yen per jar. In fact, because of this... this _scene_ you've caused, I may raise the price to 3,000—"

Ren snorted. "Bad idea. You just said the situation drew attention, right? Would you _really_ like all these people—these very _rich_ people—to see you ripping a customer off? Seems to me losing future business would hurt you more than losing 6,000 yen just this once," he reasoned.

It seemed like Tanaka had finally realized his defeat, and he looked at Ren in resignation. "What does it matter to _you_? Are you this boy's bodyguard or something?" he asked.

The young man turned toward Ren inquisitively. He didn't give any indication as to whether he was happy for the help or not, and suddenly Ren felt sheepish. What if the young man hadn't _wanted_ his help?

"N-no..." Ren stammered, then paused for a second to collect himself. He hadn't done anything _bad_ , so he had no reason to be embarrassed. "I just don't like to see people getting taken advantage of. If he doesn't want my help, all he has to do is—"

A little smile crossed the young man's face. "No, I greatly appreciate the help," he admitted. "It's quite nice to have someone looking out for me."

Tanaka sneered. "Touching," he murmured. "12,000 yen, please. And then I'll ask you both to leave before you scare away any future customers."

Ren smiled to himself as he watched the young man pay for the paint. As he put his money and the paint into his bag, Ren listened as Tanaka cursed under his breath and walked away. He was mumbling expletives about vampires under his breath, and Ren was suddenly glad that he could hear a lot better than the average person. If the young man heard that Ren was a vampire, he'd probably run away or something. Ren turned his attention to the young man, whose head was turned in Ren's direction now. His expression was far more emotive than before, Ren noticed. He looked almost bashful. Ren felt the pleasant scent tickling his nose, but he refused to breathe in and tease himself any further.

"Are you still there?" the young man's voice cut through the silence.

Ren blinked in surprise. "Yes," he answered.

With a smile curving across his lips, the young man continued. "You have my gratitude..." he paused, his tone leading Ren to offer his name.

"Oh. Uh... Ren. I'm Ren. And it's no problem. I'm just glad I was here," Ren insisted.

The young man nodded. "My name is Yusuke," he introduced himself. "I'm glad you were here as well. I don't typically shop on my own, but Master insisted that I buy some paints for myself."

Ren raised an eyebrow. "Master?" he asked.

Yusuke stopped sharply, then swallowed thickly. "Y-yes. My... my art teacher likes me to call him Master, of course," he explained. "I live with him, and he teaches me to paint."

Something about the answer seemed dishonest. Yusuke's eyes were facing downward, and Ren could see the open one drooping in shame. His voice was quieter, and there was an odd tension in his posture that made the blueberry and vanilla scent pulse through the air a little heavier. Ren had doubts, but it wasn't his place to question, so he took Yusuke's word.

"Are you here with him, then? Your Master?" Ren asked instead.

The way Yusuke flinched when Ren mentioned his Master did little more than confirm that Ren was right to be suspicious. "Yes. Well, yes and no. I believe he's in a meeting with several of his associates over on the other side of the Political Quarter, but he dropped me off and told me he would come find me when he was ready." He chuckled softly. "I was told to wait by the food stalls, but I lost my way a bit. I had intended to go to another paint stall, closer to the food stalls, but I heard the shopkeeper talking about cochineal paints. I've been told they look nicer than regular ones, so I couldn't resist following him back here."

Ren hummed thoughtfully. "I don't know much about painting," he admitted.

"Ah, my apologies," Yusuke murmured. "It's a passion of mine, and it helps the days go by faster."

With a warm smile, Ren offered, "Well, maybe you could tell me about it while I walk you to the food stalls?"

Yusuke seemed surprised. His open eye widened slightly, and he tilted his head. "I... you don't have to do that!" he objected. "You don't know me, and—"

"And I'm not gonna leave you lost in the biggest bazaar in Tokyo," Ren countered. "Especially since—" With a sharp hiss, he cut himself off before he finished his sentence.

Laughing humorlessly, Yusuke finished for him. "Especially since I'm blind."

Ren winced. "I wasn't going to—"

"You didn't, I did," Yusuke corrected. "Anyway, I would appreciate the company, and the guide back to the food stalls. Getting aid from someone who has already shown themselves to be a kind person is far better than asking for help from strangers."

A kind person. Yusuke wouldn't think that if he knew the real motive for Ren's sudden appearance at the paint stall, but Ren opted not to point that out for now. So far, their conversation had been pleasant. Ren had absolutely no desire to ruin that by revealing himself as a vampire. So, with a smile on his face, he took a quick look around to get his bearings. Once he figured out which way to go, he turned toward Yusuke.

"Alright. Let's go."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I hope the 50 year time jump wasn't too jarring! But meeting Yusuke (finally) makes up for it, right? :D
> 
> Thanks, as ever, to [Nada](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueCrownFics/pseuds/BlueCrownFics), for being an awesome beta and friend... and apparently an amazing Code Vein partner! We spent the past week playing through that game and wow, did some of those plot points feel like they'd fit snugly in Midnight's lore! :D Look forward to those showing up soon! ♥

**Author's Note:**

> FIND ME!  
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/lizibabbles) ;; [tumblr](http://lizibabbles.tumblr.com/)


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